I’m gonna start today with one of my
favorite quotes about the library the
library is the worst group of people
ever assembled in history they’re mean
conniving rude and extremely well-read
which makes them very dangerous just
like Leslie Knope most people have a
very specific view of the library
absolutely silent with a librarian
usually wearing glasses glaring and
stuffing if you drop a book or dare to
speak above a whisper well I’m here to
tell you that the library that you think
you know that’s not the library of today
I don’t think that the library is the
worst group of people ever assembled in
history but I do agree that we’re
extremely well-read and dangerous
librarians are not the quiet whispering
ladies of your childhood their
compassionate community supporters and
loud human rights activists libraries
have transformed themselves to support
communities and democracy and help them
to survive my relationship with the
library began when I was young I grew up
going to library every two weeks with my
dad
devouring book after book I was I also
loved to draw and I would sit at the old
brown tables with my sketchbooks and art
books copying the Picasso’s and Monet’s
learning to draw faces trees and flowers
and then maybe like some of you I grew
up and I stopped going I got caught up
in high school college graduating then I
made the mistake of taking the first job
that I was offered fast-forward five
years later and I was working out a job
that I hated I was pushing people to buy
more stuff that they didn’t need and I
felt that I had lost my way I had lost
my voice and I was unable to pursue any
of my passions so I
quit and with no other prospects in
sight and a small baby ibi took a
part-time job at the library I started
out there shelving books helping people
research making reading recommendations
and helping them check out their books
soon after I became full-time and I went
back to school to get my masters to
become a librarian I now manage and
support library staff
I run book clubs I help purchase books
for the library and my favorite part of
my job I get to curate art exhibits and
hold art workshops since returning I
found that these are not the libraries
of my childhood they’ve changed the
books and the librarians are still there
but there’s definitely been an increase
in not only the noise but in activity in
the library and just as the library has
changed the library changed me I now
know that this is a place where I want
to be every day where there’s no limit
to what I can learn and where I can
decide what I learn the library has
allowed me to find my voice to explore
my passions and to help other people
explore theirs
now some people would say we don’t need
libraries anymore nobody reads anymore
bookstores are dying out we have our
smartphones with Google and the internet
what do we need them for but this is so
not true
libraries have transformed themselves
they have a purpose they’re more
relevant and important to a community
and democracy than ever before
in 2016 the Pew Research Center found
that 66% of Americans believe that
closing a public library would have a
negative impact on the community
everyday libraries are providing safe
spaces for learning enrichment and
inspiration walk into a public library
today and you’ll notice that in
and activity people are roaming the
shelves they’re asking for help at the
research desk they are participating in
group projects participating in story
times reading and playing with their
children some people hold job interviews
at the library or conduct business
meetings while some of these activities
are pretty typical of what libraries
have kind of always been doing libraries
have transformed themselves and they’re
taking on new roles in their communities
to help strengthen and save them let me
give you some examples
according to feeding America one in four
children go hungry every day their only
stable source of food is their free
school lunch but what happens to these
children when summertime rolls around
well libraries have stepped up to
fulfill this role and there’s in
California there’s over 130 libraries
serving meals to over 200,000 children
and while these children are at the
library they can sign up for the summer
reading program they can attend a
storytime or participate in stem
workshops and learn how to build robots
children and their families are
participating in programs at the library
that are offered often in partnership
with other local organizations such as
the fire department or a local
university here are a few quotes from
children that are in this program I
would like to thank everyone for helping
me learn to read eat and feel safe it’s
just nice to be part of a program that
all-around cares this program makes me
feel like the community cares about us
these are children it’s clear to these
children and their families that
libraries are providing the whole
package food education a safe space and
community services and they’re doing
this by taking on a non-traditional role
for the library but
have the goal of helping communities
thrive and survive from August to
November of 2014 a library helped a
community through a tragedy riots had
erupted protests and vigils were being
held all across the town of Ferguson
Missouri this was after the shooting of
Michael Brown by police and the
resulting non-indictment of those same
officers the National Guard had to be
brought in the streets were in complete
chaos and businesses and schools all
closed I watched this on TV and I
watched this spread across my social
media feed saddened and distraught by
what I was seeing but also starting to
spread across my feed was an article
about a public library during all of
this uncertain time one of the only
buildings in the community to stay open
was the Ferguson municipal public
library led by its director Scott Bonner
the library stayed open 24 hours a day
to provide a safe space for children and
families the library held crafts they
had magic shows they created healing
kits for people to check out they held
an art exhibit to allow artists to
respond to the shootings and they
provided special outreach to adults and
local businesses to help them pick up
the pieces
Bonner could have chosen to close the
building like so many others did but he
knew the library had a duty to help this
community to survive and to heal and the
people of Ferguson agreed the library
was the only thing that worked during
the Ferguson crisis these unfortunate
events really did change my idea of what
a library ought to be the fact that the
library stayed open and welcomed
students and teachers when school didn’t
start just brought an amazing
spawns the library has just done so much
the library continues to be a kind of
shining star of positiveness coming out
of Ferguson if nothing else what our
community has been through with this and
how it assisted in bringing some
normalcy back to Ferguson the library is
absolutely relevant now libraries are
transforming themselves to help
communities thrive but they’re also
stepping up when others do not to help
them to survive you already know that
you can get books from the library that
you can use your tablet or your laptop
there may be you know that you can learn
to use a 3d printer there or attend a
program on obtaining your citizenship or
talk to a librarian about how to
determine what is fake and what is real
news but libraries are also providing
lunches for children they’re providing a
safe space during uncertain times
they’re hosting tough conversations
between divided groups they employ
social workers on staff so that they can
help the homeless and disadvantaged
they’re certifying their buildings as
safe zones for immigrants and refugees
and LBT LGBTQ communities libraries have
transformed themselves to help the
communities survive and thrive libraries
are also providing freedom for everyone
not only from monetary payment because
maybe as you know libraries are free
completely free they’re also providing
freedom from interference in the
knowledge that you seek and obtain
libraries believe that the freedom to
read what you want is part of your
constitutional rights under the First
Amendment libraries have always had a
good reputation as an unbiased
institution but we are most definitely
not neutral libraries will fight for
your right to access the truth to read
what you want and to have your voice
heard libraries have
also always believed in their patrons
privacy but it’s more recent that
they’ve had to fight loudly for it
the novelist Doris Lessing is quote from
1999 epitomizes this sentiment with a
library you are free not confined by
temporary political climates it is the
most democratic of institutions because
no one but no one at all can tell you
what to read and when and how it was in
2001 that the US government passed the
Patriot Act as a reaction to 9/11 this
act allows the government to look at
your phone records you may not know this
but libraries actually don’t keep track
of your checkout history so that there
are no records for the government to
seize you might be surprised to hear
that as a society we’re actually reading
more but although we’re reading more
because of the internet we’re not
reading as deeply recent studies have
shown that we’re prioritizing efficiency
and immediacy over understanding and
interpretation we’re more accepting of
the information true or not that’s in
front of us on our smartphones and in
our social media feeds this is leading
at best to complacency and at worst to
the spread of misinformation and an
action taken on that misinformation
often with devastating results accessing
the truth leads to better
decision-making better opportunities and
ultimately a better life for all but
with this tidal wave of information that
crashes into us every day how do I know
what is faith what’s alternative and
what is the truth
well according to that same Pew study I
mentioned earlier 77 percent of
Americans believe that libraries are
essential to providing resources that we
can
trust accessing the truth should be
considered a human right and librarians
like I said are human rights activists
libraries have always been the guardians
and keepers of the flame of knowledge
and truth but it is a fragile flame and
it can easily go out and we’re starting
to see it’s butter right now before our
very eyes
but just as libraries stepped up to
fight against the Patriot Act just as
libraries stepped up to help people in
Ferguson and just as libraries stepped
up to feed children libraries are
stepping up once again and transforming
themselves to fight against the changing
definition of truth and they’re doing it
loudly like the Dallas Public Library
who Turner with journalists to
facilitate the storytellers Without
Borders program this program teaches
teens and young adults how to consume
news media thoughtfully and how to
research accurate information or like
the Oakland Public Library who like so
many other libraries have created web
pages to help people determine what is
fake news and what is real news or like
the American Library Association who
recently had to update their crap test
and that’s crap craap which is a guide
to helping people evaluate information
la now recommends that the authority
section is more closely scrutinized and
you can’t just you must look beyond
somebody’s job title job titles such as
CEO senator or president or again the
American Library Association who created
social media campaigns to help libraries
across the nation remind the public the
importance of accurate information of
knowledge and the truth late
the libraries have begun to hear certain
words used again and again words like
cut limit deny narrow reduce lessen
diminish ban these words are not in any
of the statements that library’s elite
believe and practice words like access
accuracy open free all involve diverse
transform these are the words that make
up a library’s universe and that helped
to support community and democracy now
when you think of libraries I hope that
you will think of them as places that
fight for communities and fight for
human rights if you are passionate about
your community or passionate about human
rights come to the library and support
what we do libraries have changed into
places of activism librarians have
changed into and transformed into
activists I am a librarian I couldn’t
think of a better way to spend my life
than fighting for you
you
favorite quotes about the library the
library is the worst group of people
ever assembled in history they’re mean
conniving rude and extremely well-read
which makes them very dangerous just
like Leslie Knope most people have a
very specific view of the library
absolutely silent with a librarian
usually wearing glasses glaring and
stuffing if you drop a book or dare to
speak above a whisper well I’m here to
tell you that the library that you think
you know that’s not the library of today
I don’t think that the library is the
worst group of people ever assembled in
history but I do agree that we’re
extremely well-read and dangerous
librarians are not the quiet whispering
ladies of your childhood their
compassionate community supporters and
loud human rights activists libraries
have transformed themselves to support
communities and democracy and help them
to survive my relationship with the
library began when I was young I grew up
going to library every two weeks with my
dad
devouring book after book I was I also
loved to draw and I would sit at the old
brown tables with my sketchbooks and art
books copying the Picasso’s and Monet’s
learning to draw faces trees and flowers
and then maybe like some of you I grew
up and I stopped going I got caught up
in high school college graduating then I
made the mistake of taking the first job
that I was offered fast-forward five
years later and I was working out a job
that I hated I was pushing people to buy
more stuff that they didn’t need and I
felt that I had lost my way I had lost
my voice and I was unable to pursue any
of my passions so I
quit and with no other prospects in
sight and a small baby ibi took a
part-time job at the library I started
out there shelving books helping people
research making reading recommendations
and helping them check out their books
soon after I became full-time and I went
back to school to get my masters to
become a librarian I now manage and
support library staff
I run book clubs I help purchase books
for the library and my favorite part of
my job I get to curate art exhibits and
hold art workshops since returning I
found that these are not the libraries
of my childhood they’ve changed the
books and the librarians are still there
but there’s definitely been an increase
in not only the noise but in activity in
the library and just as the library has
changed the library changed me I now
know that this is a place where I want
to be every day where there’s no limit
to what I can learn and where I can
decide what I learn the library has
allowed me to find my voice to explore
my passions and to help other people
explore theirs
now some people would say we don’t need
libraries anymore nobody reads anymore
bookstores are dying out we have our
smartphones with Google and the internet
what do we need them for but this is so
not true
libraries have transformed themselves
they have a purpose they’re more
relevant and important to a community
and democracy than ever before
in 2016 the Pew Research Center found
that 66% of Americans believe that
closing a public library would have a
negative impact on the community
everyday libraries are providing safe
spaces for learning enrichment and
inspiration walk into a public library
today and you’ll notice that in
and activity people are roaming the
shelves they’re asking for help at the
research desk they are participating in
group projects participating in story
times reading and playing with their
children some people hold job interviews
at the library or conduct business
meetings while some of these activities
are pretty typical of what libraries
have kind of always been doing libraries
have transformed themselves and they’re
taking on new roles in their communities
to help strengthen and save them let me
give you some examples
according to feeding America one in four
children go hungry every day their only
stable source of food is their free
school lunch but what happens to these
children when summertime rolls around
well libraries have stepped up to
fulfill this role and there’s in
California there’s over 130 libraries
serving meals to over 200,000 children
and while these children are at the
library they can sign up for the summer
reading program they can attend a
storytime or participate in stem
workshops and learn how to build robots
children and their families are
participating in programs at the library
that are offered often in partnership
with other local organizations such as
the fire department or a local
university here are a few quotes from
children that are in this program I
would like to thank everyone for helping
me learn to read eat and feel safe it’s
just nice to be part of a program that
all-around cares this program makes me
feel like the community cares about us
these are children it’s clear to these
children and their families that
libraries are providing the whole
package food education a safe space and
community services and they’re doing
this by taking on a non-traditional role
for the library but
have the goal of helping communities
thrive and survive from August to
November of 2014 a library helped a
community through a tragedy riots had
erupted protests and vigils were being
held all across the town of Ferguson
Missouri this was after the shooting of
Michael Brown by police and the
resulting non-indictment of those same
officers the National Guard had to be
brought in the streets were in complete
chaos and businesses and schools all
closed I watched this on TV and I
watched this spread across my social
media feed saddened and distraught by
what I was seeing but also starting to
spread across my feed was an article
about a public library during all of
this uncertain time one of the only
buildings in the community to stay open
was the Ferguson municipal public
library led by its director Scott Bonner
the library stayed open 24 hours a day
to provide a safe space for children and
families the library held crafts they
had magic shows they created healing
kits for people to check out they held
an art exhibit to allow artists to
respond to the shootings and they
provided special outreach to adults and
local businesses to help them pick up
the pieces
Bonner could have chosen to close the
building like so many others did but he
knew the library had a duty to help this
community to survive and to heal and the
people of Ferguson agreed the library
was the only thing that worked during
the Ferguson crisis these unfortunate
events really did change my idea of what
a library ought to be the fact that the
library stayed open and welcomed
students and teachers when school didn’t
start just brought an amazing
spawns the library has just done so much
the library continues to be a kind of
shining star of positiveness coming out
of Ferguson if nothing else what our
community has been through with this and
how it assisted in bringing some
normalcy back to Ferguson the library is
absolutely relevant now libraries are
transforming themselves to help
communities thrive but they’re also
stepping up when others do not to help
them to survive you already know that
you can get books from the library that
you can use your tablet or your laptop
there may be you know that you can learn
to use a 3d printer there or attend a
program on obtaining your citizenship or
talk to a librarian about how to
determine what is fake and what is real
news but libraries are also providing
lunches for children they’re providing a
safe space during uncertain times
they’re hosting tough conversations
between divided groups they employ
social workers on staff so that they can
help the homeless and disadvantaged
they’re certifying their buildings as
safe zones for immigrants and refugees
and LBT LGBTQ communities libraries have
transformed themselves to help the
communities survive and thrive libraries
are also providing freedom for everyone
not only from monetary payment because
maybe as you know libraries are free
completely free they’re also providing
freedom from interference in the
knowledge that you seek and obtain
libraries believe that the freedom to
read what you want is part of your
constitutional rights under the First
Amendment libraries have always had a
good reputation as an unbiased
institution but we are most definitely
not neutral libraries will fight for
your right to access the truth to read
what you want and to have your voice
heard libraries have
also always believed in their patrons
privacy but it’s more recent that
they’ve had to fight loudly for it
the novelist Doris Lessing is quote from
1999 epitomizes this sentiment with a
library you are free not confined by
temporary political climates it is the
most democratic of institutions because
no one but no one at all can tell you
what to read and when and how it was in
2001 that the US government passed the
Patriot Act as a reaction to 9/11 this
act allows the government to look at
your phone records you may not know this
but libraries actually don’t keep track
of your checkout history so that there
are no records for the government to
seize you might be surprised to hear
that as a society we’re actually reading
more but although we’re reading more
because of the internet we’re not
reading as deeply recent studies have
shown that we’re prioritizing efficiency
and immediacy over understanding and
interpretation we’re more accepting of
the information true or not that’s in
front of us on our smartphones and in
our social media feeds this is leading
at best to complacency and at worst to
the spread of misinformation and an
action taken on that misinformation
often with devastating results accessing
the truth leads to better
decision-making better opportunities and
ultimately a better life for all but
with this tidal wave of information that
crashes into us every day how do I know
what is faith what’s alternative and
what is the truth
well according to that same Pew study I
mentioned earlier 77 percent of
Americans believe that libraries are
essential to providing resources that we
can
trust accessing the truth should be
considered a human right and librarians
like I said are human rights activists
libraries have always been the guardians
and keepers of the flame of knowledge
and truth but it is a fragile flame and
it can easily go out and we’re starting
to see it’s butter right now before our
very eyes
but just as libraries stepped up to
fight against the Patriot Act just as
libraries stepped up to help people in
Ferguson and just as libraries stepped
up to feed children libraries are
stepping up once again and transforming
themselves to fight against the changing
definition of truth and they’re doing it
loudly like the Dallas Public Library
who Turner with journalists to
facilitate the storytellers Without
Borders program this program teaches
teens and young adults how to consume
news media thoughtfully and how to
research accurate information or like
the Oakland Public Library who like so
many other libraries have created web
pages to help people determine what is
fake news and what is real news or like
the American Library Association who
recently had to update their crap test
and that’s crap craap which is a guide
to helping people evaluate information
la now recommends that the authority
section is more closely scrutinized and
you can’t just you must look beyond
somebody’s job title job titles such as
CEO senator or president or again the
American Library Association who created
social media campaigns to help libraries
across the nation remind the public the
importance of accurate information of
knowledge and the truth late
the libraries have begun to hear certain
words used again and again words like
cut limit deny narrow reduce lessen
diminish ban these words are not in any
of the statements that library’s elite
believe and practice words like access
accuracy open free all involve diverse
transform these are the words that make
up a library’s universe and that helped
to support community and democracy now
when you think of libraries I hope that
you will think of them as places that
fight for communities and fight for
human rights if you are passionate about
your community or passionate about human
rights come to the library and support
what we do libraries have changed into
places of activism librarians have
changed into and transformed into
activists I am a librarian I couldn’t
think of a better way to spend my life
than fighting for you
you
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