‘If there’s nowhere else to go, this is where they come’

Nowadays, it doesn’t take much time in a local library to realize libraries are no longer hushed spaces with people reading books. They help with forms, tutoring, testing, and lessons from knitting to coding. Besides books, they lend footballs, walking sticks, winter coats, and a litany of other items and services. It is “somewhere where everybody can come,” even those who have nowhere else to go. And it doesn’t take long to notice and admire the overstretched librarians who work there -- who know and understand their community, and cater to it with care and ingenuity. They often give of their own money and free time to always be able to say yes to requests, and create special treats for children. One said, “People complain we’re turning the library into a creche, but I love the sound of children’s laughter, the sound of people having fun. It has the potential to feel “like nothing so much as a big and rackety family.”

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