7 Reasons to Rediscover Your Public Library

There are a number of reasons to visit the public library in your neighborhood, but Money Talks reports on just seven reasons, all of which are helpful suggestions for people of all ages to visit (and support) their local libraries.  Check out the article here!

The article does a great job of covering a lot of what libraries offer from programs for kids to book clubs for adults, music, movie, books, magazines, and e-books to check out.  The article also mentions quiet rooms, social networking in the oldest sense of the phrase by meeting people in classes and program, and access to the Internet.  Many people assume that everyone has access to the Internet at home, but that is often not the case.  I also found it interesting (because it’s often not pointed out) that tax money is being spent on the library, it’s programming and resources, so taxpayers are paying for access – they might as well get their money’s worth.  Some libraries even have a Return on Investment calculator on their website to show that for every tax dollar you put into the library, the return you get in services and resources – many would be surprised!

As always, I am a HUGE proponent of public library use and for those people who believe public libraries are going by the wayside, come visit my library on a week day during the summer when we have 8 programs being offered for kids, a librarian out visiting a local summer camp and adult patrons reading the newspapers/magazines and using the quiet rooms for studying.  Libraries need to keep up with the times, which may mean changing how they do things – but will they ever disappear completely – I think not!