School Libraries - Blog Posts
5 Ways to Support Your Local Library
Get a library card. I know this might seem obvious, but simply being a cardholder is a huge way to support your local library. Prices vary, but many people are able to get a library card for free, depending on their location in relation to the library. Check with your local library for more precise pricing.
Check out books. Any books circulating through the library’s system is good - however, I will make the recommendation to check out educational, history, and craft books, for your own benefit. Something to remember: The more a certain type of book circulates, the more likely books of that ilk will be ordered in the future.
Attend programs. Programs are the backbone of a library, but unfortunately, many libraries struggle with attendance. Look for your library’s calendar, find something that interests you, then go to that program. This not only shows support for your library, but opens up opportunities for you to get to know other like-minded people in your community.
Volunteer. Many libraries need volunteers to help handle some of the important organizational tasks that the library staff does not have time for. Many of these tasks are neurodivergent-friendly, such as shelf-reading. Volunteering is not only a good way to support your library, but it may help your mental health and socialization.
Donate. Libraries everywhere are struggling, with many laws going into place in various places that could defund them. If you are unable to donate money, then see if your library accepts donations of other sorts, such as books. Many libraries partner with Friends of the Library groups in order to sell books that are donated to them. Many libraries also have a “Library of Things” where items that have been donated can be checked out by patrons (for example, my Library of Things has an air fryer, a ukulele, a snow cone machine, etc.).
There are many other things that you can do to support your local library, but for now, I leave you here. Be safe out there, and remember: USE YOUR LIBRARY.
What I thought working in a library would be like,
What it's really like,
What it's really really like,
I work at a library now
Inequality: Indifference x Insufficiency
Today 300,000 plus Chicago students didn’t go to school today, spending the day at home, hanging out with friends or joining their fellow classmates and over 25,000 educational workers in Chicago who are striking against working conditions and educational opportunities of the Chicago Public Schools.
Along with adequate nursing staff, emotional and mental health support a main complaint from parents is that there aren’t libraries in schools and how that lack of community space deepens the fractures occurring. Linked to the lack of community space in the schools, there is also a lack of bilingual teachers creating another barrier for students who either rely on other students to help them with their work or give up.
The strike has two sides to it: the teachers and the students. The teachers need more pay in order to lessen their financial and connected emotional stress and anxiety so they can focus more on their students and be the best teachers they can. But they are also fighting for their students. By demanding smaller class sizes, mental health resources so student can be assisted before they hit that breaking point, and pushing for school libraries they are fighting for their students now, in their next grade, their next school and the rest of their lives
Displaced, Deserted...Degraded?
Another library institution is school libraries, which if not more crucial to a community to a local library are at least equal. School libraries, as with education, can be a great building block and equalizer of the community and the current racial, economic, social, and other divides in our communities by bringing people together and expanding their horizons.
The city of Chicago has a lot of diversity with a portion of it having to do with it’s large immigrant communities. Separate from their history, the people of Chicago and from around the world come to see the renowned museums mixed with avid sports fans, corporations and religious organizations. But for a community with so much action and so many people working hard and creating, there are apparently few school libraries. While people can pretend the age of smartphones, video games, and ereaders are partially to blame and make this change okay, from 2013 to 2017 the school libraries decreased by 65% (from 454 to 157)(1). This drop has been noted by students, some who didn’t even know school libraries were a thing and it’s a bigger deal than even they may understand. Similar to local libraries that can be centers of community, education, exploration, personal and community growth while promoting opportunities; school libraries do all that earlier on while also introducing children to reading. By introducing students to libraries earlier in their school years and as a part of education where they can choose their path, learning about different people’s stories and encouraging them to see reading as an expansion of their lives and can be a guide to their futures. Even something as simple as a library cart can make a world of difference, but I hope Chicago continues to work to bring back their school libraries for now and for all of our futures.
(1) https://www.saveschoollibrarians.org/chicagoschoollibrarians
read the full article here
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