Pam Taylor: Public libraries are heart and soul of communities
Reading is fundamental. That’s not just a slogan. An entire body of research and practice exists that shows that kids who are exposed to a print-rich environment at an early age do better in school and have more opportunities open to them later in life. Reading the backs of cereal boxes, reading traffic signs on car trips, reading recipes, stories and nursery rhymes, watching adults read newspapers and books and then discuss them — they’re all important.
I can do the math formulas, but without the ability to read, I couldn’t follow written directions. I wouldn’t know that a circle (not a rectangle or square) maximizes the area within a given perimeter, or that people in other cultures used circular fences around their homes and livestock pens because of this. I wouldn’t understand why a torus is important. I wouldn’t know that an Arabic mathematician invented algebra, about Zeno’s paradoxes, about Archimedes’ screw, why triangles and arches are so important, or how these all changed civilization. I can calculate statistics, but without the ability to read technical documents, I wouldn’t be able to discern the quality of research behind scientific papers, charts and maps. I wouldn’t understand different economic theories or financial statements or be able to think critically.
Like most here in the U.S., my K-12 education emphasized Western European and Greco/Roman/Christian cultural influences, manifest destiny, character myths like George Washington and the cherry tree, and included almost nothing about the rest of the world, including pre-European America or people who weren’t white. Fortunately, my people were avid readers, so they made sure that these gaps were filled, and that we were at the library as often as possible. They blended this knowledge into what they learned from experience and their ancestors into practical, daily-life skills in a variety of ways. They knew the more we learn from others, and about bad things in the past, the better we become.
The library is the center of all this. From the first library known to the western world in Ninevah, Assyria (now Mosul, Iraq) in the Mideast cradle of civilization to the Great Library at Alexandria to modern-day public libraries all across the U.S., these places are the key to building and sustaining civilizations. Good libraries are places where people can expand their world beyond their local sect’s dogma and doctrine, where people find online books and media, share activities, communicate, and dream about possibilities. These houses of discovery are places to study literature, science, history, mathematics, culture, entertainment and the arts and learn about technology, hobbies, careers, current events and life skills.
Fortunately, Lenawee County has top-notch public libraries. I’m most familiar with the Lenawee County system, Adrian, Tecumseh and Blissfield libraries, and they’re all welcoming, with quiet and active places and excellent resources, content and programs for all ages.
Good government starts with assuring survival conditions — food, clothing and shelter — and providing safety and security for citizens. Safe and clean water and sewer infrastructure, safe and clean air and soil, safe and secure streets, and quality public education and public libraries are the absolute bedrock foundation of a community. Tax money should be continually set aside, grant applications ready to go, to meet those ongoing needs before spending that supports businesses that aren’t self-sustaining or on private-public entanglements where taxpayers are left holding a long-term bag of debt or responsibility for collateral costs.
Public libraries, like public schools, are our heart and soul. Some people are working now to destroy them, disingenuously trying to pull funds or engineer content to fit their dangerous right-wing political or religious extremist agendas instead of supporting places of learning for all, no matter who they are, where they come from or what they choose to believe. When schools and libraries fall into this darkness, civilizations collapse. Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” is a cautionary tale.
Don’t let that happen here. Visit your public library soon!
Pam Taylor is a retired Lenawee County teacher and an environmental activist. She can be reached at ptaylor001@msn.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Pam Taylor: Public libraries are heart and soul of communities
