Importance of library

As students, we know the value of our community services, and our patrons appreciate their importance as well. But in an increasingly digital world, we see the role of libraries as community and cultural centers at times undervalued, and occasionally under fire. When shrinking municipal budgets combine with the nonstop technological revolution, public library services that focus on building community face-to-face, inspiring and educating patrons about art, literature, and music, and helping patrons engage in civil discourse can seem quaint. But it is precisely those shrinking budgets and the onslaught of technologically mediated life that make public libraries’ cultural and community offerings more important than ever.

• Libraries help revitalize struggling or depressed neighborhoods and downtowns
• Libraries are important partners in sustainability.
• Libraries’ special collections grow out of specific community needs.
• Archives preserve historic artifacts, oral histories, digital history projects, and monographs relevant to the community, including minority groups
• Libraries are places where people come to know themselves and their communities
• Libraries serve as catalysts for addressing social problems.
• Libraries, which champion, promote, and reflect important democratic values, are a part of the community’s political life.
• Library buildings as architectural structures are culturally relevant.