on Feb 7th, 2010Love Your Library Month
I’m an unabashed bibliophile and politicians are making me mad. February is Library Lover’s Months, but in my town, it’s also budget time, and all we’re hearing about is the bad economy. Phrases like “toughest budget in decades,” “belt tightening,” “spending cuts,” and “sacrifice” sprinkle the weekly editorials. The Selectmen want to cut everyone’s budget. And that includes the local library.
I’ve blogged before on the subject of my local library. The Wilton Library is incredibly supportive of both un-pub’ed and newly pub’ed writers. For the “un’s”, the Library regularly sponsors seminars and workshops — in fact, this week starts a five-part series on short stories (see WLA website for details). For “new pubs” it schedules a “meet & greet” during which the authors can discuss their books and their approach to writing. Books are, of course, available for signing.
I’ve benefited from these programs for years, and now, it seems only fair to pay back the favour. Think of everything your local library provides. My local library’s collection totals more than 144,000 items including:
- over 3800 adult audio books, over 200 teen audio books, and over 500 children’s audio books
- over 5800 CDs of classical, jazz, and popular music
- over 7400 films for adults, teens, and children
- over 200 periodical subscriptions
- over 2500 books in large print
- fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and reference materials for adults and children
And that’s not counting access to computer, printers, and on-line databases; meeting rooms; concerts; ESL and computer classes, typewriters (for the technically challenged?), a fax machine, and photocopiers; a CD player and a turntable, each with headphones, for onsite use; an Optelec reader for vision-impaired patrons; not to mention flu clinics and blood drives.. Where else can you get this for free?
So how do I/we pay back?
Money is obviously one answer: Wilton Library donations fund 100% of the collection (including books, online databases, magazines and newspapers, CDs, DVDs, and audio books), while an annual grant from the Town of Wilton covers about three-quarters of the operating expenses. And keep in mind that most, if not all, of the donation is tax deductible.
But let’s be a little more creative.
You can donate used books for the annual book sales. I know I have literally boxes of books I’ve read, enjoyed, and will never read again. Instead of selling them on-line at a tag sale, donate them to the Library’s sale. Last year Wilton’s sales raised more than $70,000.
Volunteer — this is not a dirty word. And there is something for everyone. Volunteer as cashiers, sorters, pricers, and movers for the sales. Help process audio-visual material and books, update Wilton, prepare crafts, and help with filing. Last year, one woman even built a beautiful bookcase. Offer your special talents: volunteer to give a lecture, moderate a book group, read to preschoolers; start a writers’ group for teens or senior citizens (memoirs are a favourite for this group). Get elected to the Library Board. For all you published authors, donate a copy (or 2) of your book. For those of us still waiting to be discovered, buy a copy of a friend’s book — you’ll be helping both the author and the library. Encourage your kids to hold bake sale and car washes to raise money.
But most of all USE your local library. Last year, the library served 261,087 patrons and had 662,181 website visits. Incidentally, Wilton has a total population of 17,698, so that works out to about 120 visits/hits per resident. It’s hard for town government to cut funding to a group that serves such a large, diverse proportion of the town’s population.