The Enduring Value of Libraries, from Kabul to Canada

Have libraries made a difference in your life? Here are three stories about the many ways libraries can make a difference. They can reach out to kids with limited access to books or safe spaces. They provide an inviting place for older—or younger-- people who would otherwise be isolated. They offer information, technology, and help using it to people who can’t figure it out, or afford it, on their own.

(I worked for a library system for years, and I have seen libraries be all that, and more. In one hot city, they were also a place homeless or marginalized people could get out of the heat and rest…)

I try to vary English Detectives’ sources, but all three of these articles from the Guardian are so useful— and so different in the stories they tell— that I can’t choose. See for yourself!

The first article talks about how mobile classrooms/libraries in Kabul and Tijuana are meeting the urgent needs of children who would otherwise have little chance to read or even find a safe place to play. It also describes an old bus station converted into a library in Tel Aviv, comic books distributed on trains and subways in the United Kingdom, audio libraries on subways in Beijing, and mini-libraries at bus stations in Greece so commuters can read while waiting for the bus or on their way to work.

The next describes all the services provided in several world-class libraries in Canadian cities. For example, the Toronto Library gives people access to tools and community events they might otherwise miss. These include hosting music performances, educating people on how to run for office, and providing technology for self- publishing, podcasting, and making prosthetic hands (!)

The final article tells stories of many people in New York City whose lives were changed by their branch libraries. It tells what a library meant to older people in a poor neighborhood with few other safe or welcoming places to go, isolated new parents, and lonely children. More people are using those libraries than ever, although some officials are considering budget cuts. They see libraries as luxuries, now that so much information is available online, but they miss all the varied benefits those branch libraries provide to their neighborhoods.

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