Long Overdue...indeed!

Not long ago, I wrote pessimistically about the fate of libraries (Career guidance), citing a variety of sources that described various negative perceptions that threaten them.

Happily, a new report has been released that shows a quite different public attitude: one of support and acknowledgement of  the importance of libraries, even in digital age. LONG OVERDUE: A FRESH LOOK AT PUBLIC ATTITUDES ABOUT LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY finds:

The American people expect and prize public library service in the Internet age. In fact, they see libraries as potential solutions to many communities’ most pressing problems, from universal access to computers to a safe place for teens. But the research suggests a troubling “perception” gap, with many elected leaders reluctant to consider libraries a funding priority, and community residents – even those most appreciative of the library – unaware that libraries face stiff competition for funds. This spells a missed opportunity for elected leaders, who could build upon libraries’ currency in the community to address a host of contemporary problems, as well as for the library community, which could better secure libraries’ funding future by trumpeting the many traditional and innovative roles libraries play today.

 What I find intriguing about this study is that while libraries seem to have massive public support, they cannot rest on their laurels, but must continue to demonstrate that the perform "essential" services within their communities to decision-makers. Perhaps this continuous need to justify one's existence has become the hallmark of our times.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "We should all be obliged to appear before a board every five years and justify our existence...on pain of liquidation." It seems today we need to appear before that board every five months  - or five weeks.

Anyway, read the report. It's encouraging to those of us who love libraries... 

Comments

[Sara Kelly Johns]

Yes, this is an interesting study with implications for school libraries, too...I snagged it for my KQ Crystal Ball presentation at ALA, as a matter of fact.

I just hung up from a conversation with a newly-graduated LMS who called me about our NY Leadership Retreat and we chatted about the "bargain" schools get with an elementary librarian who has both the literature and technology skills to help students love to read and to use information and developing technologies well. They are those "essential services" that are often not as clearly supported by schools as public libraries are by citizens.

That's our advocacy and marketing quest...