Americans love our libraries, and we show our appreciation by visiting libraries almost 1.2 billion times each year. In fact, a recent national poll by Marist College Institute for Public Opinion found that 94 percent of Americans rate libraries very valuable or valuable, and 63 percent would support increased taxes for public library services.
The library is correctly perceived as a beneficial and benevolent pillar of the community. Libraries are unique in providing educational, recreational, and useful materials to everyone for free. In these challenging economic times, libraries are being used more than ever for job searches, computer classes and other resources. At the same time, however, funding cuts threaten service hours, book budgets and staffing levels. Consequently, library workers are doing more with less while trying to meet the diverse needs of our communities.
On Tuesday, April 10, 2012 during National Library Week, schools, campuses and communities across the country will celebrate the valuable contribution of our librarians and library support staff on the second annual National Library Workers Day. Libraries are part of the American dream— places for opportunity, education and lifelong learning— but that dream would not exist if not for the people staffing our libraries.
Library workers select or create and then organize and maintain everything available in our library. From a book for research or leisure reading, a skilled and dedicated human is responsible for its presence in the library. Library workers— cataloguers, circulation clerks, pages, reference librarians, security guards, student assistants, systems engineers, web designers and youth librarians, to name just a few— provide access to the past while preserving the present.
I encourage everyone to take a moment on Tuesday, April 10 to thank our library workers for the services they provide and to remind ourselves that libraries provide vital services each and every day. Library patrons can nominate a “star” library worker by going online to the National Library Workers Day website at ala-apa.org/nlwd .
Remember— libraries in Long Beach work because library workers do!
Gerrie Schipske
Councilmember
Long Beach
5th District
