7 Reasons To Support Your Library, If You Needed Any More

In a changing world where digital media is on the rise, libraries are creating new and unique ways to encourage visitors. Many libraries have bounced back from their lowest visitor averages of the pandemic and maintain strong operations, despite the misconception that libraries are dying.

Libraries are centers for community gathering, education, and safety support. Now, more than ever, it’s critical that libraries have advocates. Don’t just take our word for it—here are seven compelling reasons to support your local library.

Improved Literacy and Critical Thinking

In the wise words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In the digital age, we can access media almost immediately. With so much information floating around us, it is more important to practice critical thinking and have strong media literacy. According to Media Literacy Now, media literacy is the ability to 1) decode media messages (including the systems in which they exist), 2) assess the influence of those messages on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and 3) create media thoughtfully and conscientiously.

Libraries offer children and adults the opportunity to safely engage with technology and media while supplying them with the tools and support to build lifelong skills.

Free Access to Information

Libraries are home to some of the most advanced technologies and digital systems around. These aren’t resources you can get just anywhere and libraries offer them for free.

Public libraries close the digital divide (those with and without access to technology) and provide support to historically disadvantaged communities. Even if you have the newest cell phone or computer, there’s still more to explore and libraries can be a great way to do that. By supporting your local library, you’re advocating for access to new information for everyone.

Community Gathering Places

Your local library isn’t just a wonderful place to access your next read. Libraries are often utilized as spaces for community events and gatherings. They serve as hubs for art shows, exhibitions, and performances. They can put on local health screenings and awareness events and are in-person voting precincts for local and national elections.

Libraries can also be a safe place for children and students to land. Offering comfortable places for local youth to gather is critical to community safety. Libraries can be a place of refuge for children facing abuse at home or bullying at school. Familiar third spaces, away from school or home, are important for the normal development of children and their social interactions.

Historical Preservation

Libraries are homes for historical archives and truth. With their advanced organizational systems and archival procedures, libraries are well-equipped to protect and preserve important historical data like city records, censuses, and cultural information. For smaller towns and rural areas, libraries are often the only place to gain access to local records and cataloging references. Librarians are the guardians of our legacies.

“One of the deepest impulses in man is the impulse to record, to scratch a drawing on a tusk or keep a diary… The enduring value of the past is, one might say, the very basis of civilization.” – John Jay Chapman, American author

Connecting the World

In 2024, less than 7% of the world’s population has regular access to the internet and digital media. Women and people of color are more likely to be cut off from internet resources, continuing the cycle of need and isolation. Building libraries and information centers in marginalized communities allows more access for underserved populations.

This can lead to a bolstering of the local economy through further access to work, information, and innovation that they otherwise wouldn’t have. These communities rely on libraries for technology and resources needed for development and modernization.

Encouraging Creativity

The regular practice of reading is fundamental to creativity. The more reading we do, the more we understand and educate ourselves. Libraries house thousands of books with different lands, stories and personal experiences. Reading expands your worldview and fosters thinking outside of the box. Creative thinkers are the innovators of the world. Without knowledge, there is no progress. Without reading, there is limited knowledge. Without libraries, there is far less access to books.

Support for Education

Libraries are home to unlimited access to education. You’ll find support for research, advanced technologies, and career resources. Students and working adults alike can go to the library for educational resources and new information. They offer supplemental educational material like training, courses, and e-learning, all free of charge.

Here’s a commitment from the American Library Association: “As champions of lifelong learning, libraries are a place to quench curiosity, access technology, and explore new ideas, hobbies, and careers.”