The Local Library

Yesterday I walked to the Norwalk Public Library. Not only had I read all the books I'd borrowed, they were several days overdue. $2.40 overdue. I came home with four new books.

I've been going to the local library for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, Tuesday was library night because it was the one day the library was open in the evening. After dinner we would get in the car, drive to the library, return the books we'd finished, and get new ones. My brother and I both participated in the summer reading programs. My first job was as a Page at the Darien Public Library, and I knew the Dewey Decimal System backwards and forwards. It was quite a shock to go off to college and have to learn the Library of Congress cataloging system.

Libraries have changed a lot since my time as a Page. I've watched the catalogs move from cards filed in banks of drawers to computer systems. But there are still slips of paper and pencils for patrons to jot down the information they need to find a book on the shelves. Music collections have migrated from LPs to cassette tapes to CDs, and now some collections are available digitally. Movie and television show collections have made a similar journey, although there were no video tape collections until I was in college, and then only limited ones.

And computers. More and more libraries have computers available for patrons to use. That is a vital community service. Computers are often the first place researchers begin these days. Unfortunately, it's the only place for some. If it's on the Internet, it must be true, and it must be everything there is on a subject. We aren't doing a good job of teaching our students to think critically. But that's a post for another time.

Libraries remain a primary place for conducting research. Many periodicals and genealogical records are still on microfilm, and the only place to read microfilm is at a library that has microfilm readers. Libraries make it possible to access hard to find books and other printed materials through interlibrary loans. One of my childhood memories is of Mom and her projects. If there was something she wanted to know about or figure out how to do, off she went to the library. She built a solar oven. She taught my brother and I how to fix our own bicycles. And when I came out to my family, one of the first things she did was go to the library and find every book she could about homosexuality, lesbians, and gays.

Libraries have long been places for community gatherings and events. In the last few years, some of the larger bookstore chains have made themselves those kinds of places for their communities. While these bookstores had financial and advertising resources, local public libraries have endured budget cuts. Yet they have remained important gathering places for their communities. And now we watch as the digital age begins to impact the large bookstore chains the same way they impacted the small bookstores. Now in Chapter 11, Borders is closing some 275 stores.

Our public libraries have adapted with the times, and they will continue to do so. We must continue to support them and urge our city governments to do the same.