Saturday, March 12, 2011

Dear Library Funding/Budget Gods

Dear Library Funding/Budget Gods,
We public librarians are busy. We are busy updating our technologies. We are busy helping patrons file for unemployment online, because the lines are too long or the phone lines are busy. We are busy creating story times and children's programs that encourage reading and literacy. We are busy helping students with their homework during the week. We are coordinating visits to schools to talk about great books to read for the summer. We are compiling lists of literature relevant to our community's interest and needs. We are busy scheduling our meeting rooms (free!) for local organizations and non-profits to meet in and enjoy. We are shelving the many, MANY materials that are flying in and off the shelves. We are busy heating and cooling the building. We are busy trying to find out if we can afford to install word processing on computers that are too old. We are trying to budget whether or not we can put new computers to help ease the pain of late afternoon computer backup. We are cataloging new books. We are reserving new books and movies for patrons who are waiting patiently to read and watch them. We are busy cleaning up messes left behind from patrons who utilize our buildings. We are busy asking the public what THEY want from their library. We are busy. We are concerned. We are providing the public with things they need and at times can't afford. Even more important that those incredibly awesome two things: we are becoming a destination for ALL types of people.

The Library Destination can be a place to unwind, to relax with a book. It can be a place to pick up tax forms, or a place to check your email. It can be a place where you let your kid blow off steam after being cooped up in your house for 8 hours due to nasty weather. We are a place where you can Shake your Sillies out, do the Hokey Pokey, spin yourself around and then go relax in a comfortable chair and read the newspaper. We are a place a person can walk to after they buy a cup of coffee across the street. We are one of the last places still standing that provides people with free information, and access to acquire even more information than we can physically house on our shelves. We do it with a smile. We do it for a modest living, and most of us do it because we love it. We love the building. We love the books. We love the sense of community. We love hearing children proudly announce they're learning how to read. We love to discuss books with patrons. We love to talk about how eBooks are changing the field of librarianship, publishing, all of it. We love to make things easier for people.

As I mentioned before, we do this for little money. Many of us went nearly broke paying for the advanced degrees to get us into a field and career we love. And we only complain (or we only SHOULD complain) when budget cuts continue to take away the rights of those who are already struggling. We are here, with a smile, to help people who need it. Sure, we're not curing cancer. We're not saving lives in the physical sense, but we are here because we want to be, and because the people who need libraries serve everyone.

So please Library budget Gods, please allow us to have the funds to AT LEAST continue the good work we're trying to accomplish. We would love the opportunity to improve upon the services we already offer, but understand that is not probable. So at the very least, look kindly upon us and let us continue to dutifully do the work that fills the gaps that so many other services leave behind. We love it here, and we want to continue to do good work. Adequate funding (ADEQUATE, I'm not even saying more or better) will allow us to keep brainstorming of more ways to improve the services we offer without spending more money we don't have.

In Dewey's Name I Pray,
A-men