Libraries Have Everything

I've always spent a lot of time at libraries. When I was young my grandmother would take me to one or two of the libraries in the Lucas County system. I loved the Holland and Sylvania branches. She waited for me to browse the rows and stacks and spinner racks full of books. I read the whole Oz series in just a few weeks. I borrowed the same couple of books about dragons and knights over and over again. I read The Mists of Avalon far too young, and Salem's Lot, too. Over the years I borrowed thousands of books. The sad truth is I probably only read hundreds of them.

I have a problem with over-borrowing. I love the heft of a stack of books, the various sizes aligned and tucked under arm and pressed against my ribs. I love the plastic dust jackets, and prefer to read hard cover books only from the library. My personal collection is primarily paperbacks, mostly because I'm a cheap ass and also because I like the transportability of the mass-market sized novels.

My dad hated my book borrowing habit because I racked up considerable fines. I borrowed dozens of books at a time and never remembered when they were due. Neither he nor my mother kept track of my habit so books were inevitably returned late. Very late. Hundreds of dollars late over the years. I remember him hollering, "I could buy the goddamn library for all fines I've paid for your goddamn books!" 

The library is great because its OURS. Our taxes support the library system. I walk in to a library and think, affectionately, that all of these books are mine. All the services, all the computers, all the books and media, mine. Yours. Ours. I'm glad of the services I don't use, like computer literacy classes for seniors and story time for toddlers. I've attended poetry readings, author meetings, and music performances at the library. Thanks to library programs I've met Ray Bradbury and Sherman Alexie. I've heard Gary Snyder and Neil Gaiman speak. I almost got to hear Stan Lee speak at recent Authors, Authors, hosted by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, but he had to cancel due to health concerns. 

I recently started freelancing, and so I spend a lot of time at the Clemmons Branch Library. It was built in the 1980s and looks every bit of thirty-odd years old. I love it. They don't take credit cards. There isn't a poetry section, but there is a modest section of Graphic Novels. When I got my library card, the librarian who helped me was surprised I knew about the magnet locks on DVDs and the self-checkout system. I assured her I spent a lot of time in libraries in my home town. 

In the restroom, I see the hand-dryer is ancient, stainless steel, really, an incredibly old model. The mirrors aren't glass, but reflective acrylic. I actually took apart one of the paper towel dispensers to re-feed the towel roll to make it work properly. And at the table behind me, two Spanish speaking women browse a red basket filled with coupons they got from the librarian. Under the same counter where they stock the coupons, there's another basket full of Box Top donations. I say to myself "This library has all the stuff!", and start singing 'This Hotel Room' by Jimmy Buffet in my head. If you know the song, you know why. The song is basically a list of a hotel room's amenities, which makes me leap again to another list, one of my favorite poems by Gary Soto, The Yard Sale. 

The library is in trouble, along with net neutrality, health insurance, CHIP, LGBTQ minorities, immigrants, the environment, and the whole world. But the library is USED. It's essential. Every day I'm here I see elderly folks learning how to use computers, reading the paper, doing the crossword. I see young people applying for jobs. I see people using the the library's resources to learn Excel, coding, how to knit, and how to tie a fly. Parents bring their children for story time and the children make their first friends at the library. Millennials, those much maligned young adults, have a chance to save it, though. In my experience it's the elderly and young parents who use the liberty most often. It's definitely the case in Clemmons, but according to this article, it's the 18-35 year old set who most often use the public library. Hey, you guys, VOTE. Register, vote. Vote. Vote. Learn stuff. Vote. Damn the man, save the Empire.  

Call it a conspiracy theory but listen to me: information has never been so easy to get. Learning has never been so easy or freer. And that's why I think net neutrality and libraries are under fire. WE THE PEOPLE are closer to information than ever, which makes it harder for the bad guys to do bad stuff. It's not a huge leap to think the whole 'Fake News' rallying cry of the current administration is meant to undermine our respect for, and confidence in, information media. Resist that shit. Use the library. Learn some thing. Put your mind to work.