Public libraries have long acted as pillars of knowledge
At the risk of overshadowing the coming solar eclipse, especially with totality here for the first time in 200 years, this also is great time to talk instead about a radiant force in Ohio, and that’s our public libraries.
This week, more than 6,500 library professionals from across the state and the country will gather in Columbus for the biennial Public Library Association Conference, featuring a full schedule of conversations about how libraries are meeting community needs in new ways.
Public libraries have long served as pillars of knowledge, offering equitable access to resources, fostering lifelong learning, and encouraging boundless exploration. These qualities are even more important today as technology is changing rapidly and keeping up can be challenging and costly.
Consider the Columbus Metropolitan Library, a true testament to libraries’ enduring legacy. From its origins as a modest reading room with one librarian in 1873, it has blossomed into a network of 23 locations, circulating a staggering 13 million physical items and hosting 3.8 million e-content uses.
Literacy and reading are fundamental to libraries, as is ensuring that everyone has the right to choose the books they want to read. Library workers at more than 17,000 public library locations nationwide fill the shelves with resources that reflect the rich tapestry of our communities.
And because libraries are hyperlocal, services and programs are tailored to the diverse interests and needs of our communities, as well. From cultural programs and educational workshops to job training initiatives and social services, libraries serve as invaluable resources for individuals from all walks of life.
Parents have their pick of story times, students are using makerspaces and 3D printers, writers are attending author workshops, musicians are reserving instruments, and gardeners are borrowing from seed libraries.
As communities adapt to change, libraries do, too, and they’re uniquely positioned to work alongside state and local partners to address essential needs. The 2022 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey found that virtually all libraries (98%) have at least one external partnership, including schools, public agencies, and nonprofits.
Through collaborations with the Children’s Hunger Alliance, for instance, Columbus Metropolitan Library provides free lunches to over 107,000 children, ensuring no child goes hungry in our community. Increasingly, libraries nationwide also are working with schools of social work and their interns and graduates to address the holistic needs of our patrons.
Even in a digital age, our physical spaces are essential hubs and deserve our investments. Columbus Metropolitan Library hosted 4.9 million visits last year; nationwide it’s more than 1.2 billion. And libraries increasingly are meeting learners where they are, be it in schools or on buses.
Columbus library puts school reading assistants, in classrooms to work one on one with students from schools like French Run Elementary to improve reading and writing skills that suffered during COVID.
With Read and Ride, Central Ohio Transit Authority riders have free smartphone access to library ebooks and eaudiobooks.
Since 2019, when Public Library Association, selected Columbus to host the conference, libraries have embodied and emboldened their communities in so many ways.
We look forward to sharing experiences and ideas about topics ranging from serving adults with disabilities to growing LGBTIQA+ programs, enhancing multilingual resources, improving teen services, creating activities for veterans, and boosting technology access and skills.
Vibrant cities and towns are made even brighter by vibrant libraries. They teach us, reassure us, inspire us, and strengthen us — ALL of us. Come see for yourself.
National Library Week, April 7-13, is a great time to explore your local branch, where solar eclipse glasses are available while supplies last.
And we’ll be certain to have them again when the next one arrives in 2099.
Patrick Losinski is chief executive officer of Columbus Metropolitan Library. Sonia Alcántara-antoine is president of the Public Library Association and director of Baltimore County (Maryland) Public Library.