Why are You Thankful for the Library?

Happy Thanksgiving! In celebration of this day of gratitude, we asked our library staff why they are thankful for libraries. Feast on their replies:

“I am thankful for libraries because they open the world to my Mom (who is homebound) and me through travel videos and travel guides: our armchair travels to Thailand, Australia, and areas of the US, recently, have been a treat.  We get cuisine from that country, watch the video, and feel almost like we’ve been there!”

“I am grateful for libraries as one of the few truly public spaces. Functional democracy depends on informed citizenry, and the library is one of the rare sources that does not have an economic or political incentive for distributing information. The library as a non-commercial commons upholds intellectual freedom— the right to pursue any informational endeavor without judgement or impediment.”

“Libraries are rich with serendipitous discoveries which help raise facts to the level of knowledge and even to wisdom at times—rarely a statement I can make about social media, news channels, and most blogs as they operate primarily on the level of facts whether actual or just emotional. Libraries are glorious sampling trays of thought. I don’t have to have a search in mind to begin my journey to discovery.”

“I’m grateful for how egalitarian libraries are. Everyone is welcome at the library, from the wealthiest members of the community to the very poorest. There are resources and services to benefit everyone, and we are all wanted here.”

“Libraries provide endless hours of entertainment and education. They were also a safe place for my children to explore. Continuing that thought, my children felt the librarians were their friends and often sought their advice on what to read. I loved that about our library.”

“I’m grateful for libraries because they are a place to seek, organize, create and share. They were a magical portal for me as a child, a place to develop meaningful skills for me as a young adult, a source of dignity and service and abundance for me when I was unemployed, and continue to be a place to grow my family and help others grow theirs.”

“I’m thankful for libraries because of the creative, musical, excellent storytimes, children’s programs, and access to information about fostering an early love of reading. As a first-time mother of an 8-month-old, it’s pretty overwhelming to feel the weight of responsibility on your shoulders for helping your child become a good reader and a good thinker and learner. I am very thankful and often awed that libraries provide so many imaginative and interactive opportunities for very young children and parents to fall in love with learning, reading, playing, and growing together.”

“I’m thankful for libraries because they are continually giving me new ideas! Whether it’s about magical worlds that can exist, what things are truly important in this world, or learning about our world in general, I love being able to find out more. They are also peaceful places that almost anyone can enter and enjoy. Without libraries it would be nearly impossible to know anything about the past, which would make the future that much harder. Also it brings people together as a community through the many amazing programs it has.”

“I am grateful for libraries for many reasons, among them being their support of diverse populations, points of view, and continued learning. I am grateful for the freedom to read and those who support it.”

“I’m thankful for libraries for the role that they can play in shaping who someone is. The large bookstores that we have today didn’t exist in my small town when I was growing up, so going to the library was the first chance I ever had to browse for books. It was my first experience in exploring and selecting something that interested me rather than just taking what my mom, my siblings, or my elementary school offered. Freedom! I took home bags and bike baskets worth of things that I wanted to read, and it was all free. The library grows and changes with me, and at any age, I can choose things that are interesting to me, and I think that is just brilliant.”

Why are you thankful for libraries? We’d love to hear!