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I am a bit retrograde in that I do not have a laptop computer and neither do I have the capability of doing email on my cell phone. I do email entirely from my desktop computer at home, but I rely heavily on email and use it a lot in various ways.
On my extended road (car) trips over the years, I have stopped at local libraries all over this country in order to check my email. A few times these have been very small libraries in very small towns, but I have never encountered one where I was not allowed to get on one of their computers for 30 minutes.
I am aware that it would be more convenient to have either the laptop or the phone capability or both, but I do not travel constantly and have procrastinated about becoming completely modern. I am probably not alone in my age group (68). So the bottom line is that I particularly appreciate the computer availability in public libraries while traveling.
I am in that boat as well. No laptop; very basic cell phone that just makes phone calls.
Plus I don't have a car to travel in so I would have to carry whatever I can carry in a suit case on a bus, train, plane or whatever and I don't want to schlepping a bunch of stuff around if I don't have to.
Ole Wanderer, you did a great job listing some very solid reasons. I'd also add that having many interesting community programs gives children the habit of frequenting libraries, and that, in turn promotes a lifelong habit of reading. The more a child (or anyone) hangs out in a place filled with books and around people who are reading, the more they will become readers themselves.
Maybe they go to the library to attend a program on science fiction. Guess what, there will be books on the table for them to check out. Or perhaps they'll come to the library to kill some time, and since it's quiet and everyone else is reading, they'll start reading a book, too--just to have something to do. Etc. Etc. When I see people posting that teens don't use libraries, my guess is that part of the reason is they didn't teach them to come to the library when they were younger. Where I live we like to plant the seed of library usage early in life, and as a result we have a steady crop of lifelong readers.
In addition, sometimes the programs in libraries result in reference materials being created and/or donated to the library. For example, people in the toastmasters group have donated material on speech writing and conquering nervousness. The people giving tax seminars give the reference librarian information on taxes. Etc.
Earlier I talked about using the library for research when I was writing a book. Somehow in the excitement over yoga, the several mentions I made of reading books and writing books at a library were overlooked. As a reminder here's one thing I wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caladium
The person who talked about writing a book reminded me of another benefit from our reference librarian. There are some reference materials that are out on shelves, and others that are tucked away in a back room. Back when I wrote my book, I talked to the reference librarian and he gave me binders full of oral histories taken over a five year period back in the 1970s.
Where do you think they got the oral histories? They were all taken by teens as part of a library program. The participants who were interviewed were also people using the library--and they represented quite a cross section of the community. It really was a fascinating collection of histories. When the project was done, the initial benefit was it fostered a sense of community as well as being educational for those teens--but other benefits arose as time passed. It became part of the library's reference material, which later on was invaluable when I wrote my book.
Earlier I talked about using the library for research when I was writing a book. Somehow in the excitement over yoga, the several mentions I made of reading books and writing books at a library were overlooked...
Ah, writing books in a library, I should have mentioned that too since it happened at numerous libraries during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). From Nov 1 to Nov 30 each year in the last 12 years, writers and published authors have met at libraries all over the country for write-in days. It is a great place for writers to do their things since materials for research are at hand. It is a great activity for the libraries to have since it encourages many of the patrons and drop-in visitors ("outsiders") to pay attention to literature activities.
The most recent data shows that in 2011, there were 2000 schools in the country participated in the Young Writers Program part of NaNoWriMo. That's the number of schools, not number of students. The schools committed to encourage their students to write 50,000 words (per person) for the 30 days of November, and many of those words were written in the welcome environment of libraries. If that's not a worthwhile activity to have in library, I don't know what is.
Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 02-16-2013 at 11:59 AM..
Ah, writing books in a library, I should have mentioned that too since it happened at numerous libraries during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). From Nov 1 to Nov 30 each year in the last 12 years, writers and published authors have meet at libraries all over the country for write-in days. It is a great place for writers to do their things since materials for research are at hand. It is a great activity for the libraries to have since it encourages many of the patrons and drop-in visitors ("outsiders") to pay attention to literature activities.
Lol, as an aside, I have never understood why NaNoWriMo is in November. Of all the months in the year, for me November is the one most filled with activities, travel and visitors - pretty much the one month a year I am guaranteednot to have time. NaOctWriMo. NaJanWriMo. NaFebWriMo.
I am appreciative of the last few posts. Sometimes we learn things that are unexpected and welcome on City Data. The last few posts fall into that category for me.
In every library I've been to, non-residents are welcome to do all of the above. When I travel to other cities I often enjoy spending time in their libraries, and I don't recall ever seeing a sign restricting parts of a library to the people of that town. I've regularly used computers in libraries in other cities. If you come to my town and want to check out yoga, by all means do so. The only thing a non resident can't do is check out materials. And in some towns I think they may have ways of allowing visitors who are more like temporary residents to register so they too can check out books. Visitors who are simply from another county are definitely free to do all activities. I even hold a library card for the county next to mine (Fairfax County) so I can check out books.
That has been my experience also. Even though I live in Chicagoland, I still have a Clark Co., NV library card that I have used several times. And I am thankful for the librarians in Barens, TX (east of El Paso) who allowed me to check my e-mails on several occasions.
I am used to public libraries that serve a county or a region. Unfortunately, in this area, each town in the area has a separate library. Our local library borrows books from communities 50-60 miles away rather than the one down the street.
Our local library also welcomes recent immigrants to use the library GRATIS but the farmer 1/4 mile outside the city limit is NOT welcome without paying a $100 annual fee. Egads!!
The three reasons libraries maintain a roster of activities and services that bring in both frequent customers and "outsiders" are:
1- Having community activities and other free services held in library does not cost any more money than having an empty room without the activities. The electricity is used no matter what; the rooms, the chairs, and the tables exist no matter what; the insurance is paid no matter what; and the responsibility for cleaning/putting the room back to order falls on the group involved, not the library staff. There is no extra money that would come out of the library budget for any kind of community activity or service. The tax helper is provided by local commercial tax service; the public-aid helper is sent from the county to reach out to people who, for one reason or another, cannot find time or transportation to get to the agency during business hours. In SW FL where I used to live, the local library held a weekend fishing lesson to local youngsters every year, with fishing tools provided free to all participants, and that did not come out of the library budget. The library there also held a weekly master gardeners, which was provided by the university. As for after-school daycare center, I have never seen a babysitter who took care of a group of children without parents in a library. If you meant after-school reading club, then yes, my grandchildren attend it regularly since the age of two, but always with their parents. And the person who runs the activity is a volunteer. The library staff does not deal with it. If you meant after-school homework club, then Escort Rider can easily provide an answer, because he is one of the volunteers who help children with their homework after school hours.
2- Having community activities and other free services held in library is the most efficient way to bring in volunteers. There is no need for advertisement or posters, simply have one activity or service and another will follow. Like mushrooms, volunteers grow where the soil is nourished and the condition is ideal. A library that stands back from the needs of the community is not a place where many volunteers wish to donate their time and talents. And libraries do need volunteers more than ever to survive the constant funding cut.
3- Having community activities and other free services held in library is the sure proof that the library is important to the welfare of the community, aside from its main service of lending out books. Without the foot traffic and the involvement of the residents, a library on the brink of being cut will surely be gone. With the support of the community, there is hope, and for a public library, hope is usually the only thing that stands between a continuance of existence and a goodbye party.
That's what I learned from the library in SC. You may think they are not valid enough, but they came from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I asked for the information and received them when I attempted to hold meetings for a free knitting club (not a class.) The meetings never happened because I could not find enough knitters (imagine that, there were very few knitters in a subtropical climate, who would have thought?) but the information retained with me.
Love this post. I totally agree about the volunteers. When we moved to our current location 3 years ago, our library was in the process of moving to a larger building, and for the first time had a meeting room. Boy has it blossomed. Membership and circulation are way up, as are the number of volunteers. I can't tell you how many people comment on loving the way we are trying to become a cultural and social center, and many of them volunteer.
We have a retired elementary music teacher who teaches a reading group with music, and it is the most popular children's program at the library. We have people who do various craft projects with the kids, as well as a girl scout troup that came in and helped the kids make puppets and put on a play. We have people teaching artisian bread making, astronomy and so much more. Other volunteers keep the outside gardens looking great. There are so many different ways to make a difference.
Sorry you couldn't get a knitting group going. We have one at our library, and once a year they donate items they've made and we have a silent auction, with the proceeds going to our Friends Group. This in turn allows us to schedule more programming.
You are so right, the volunteers are growing with no advertising necessary.
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