Los Angeles' libraries are being slashed, and, beginning this week, their doors will be locked two days a week. In Philadelphia, the mayor has threatened the latest in a series of library budget reductions.
Such cuts and close calls are happening across the country. The rationale is that we won't miss a third of our librarians and libraries the way we'd miss a third of our firefighters and firehouses. But I wonder.
I've spent four years following librarians as they dealt with the tremendous increase in information and the ways we receive it. They've been adapting as capably as any profession, managing our public computers and serving growing numbers of patrons, but it seems their work has been all but invisible to those in power.
I've talked to librarians whose jobs have expanded with the demand for computers and training, and because so many other government services are being cut. The people left in the lurch have looked to the library, where kind, knowledgeable professionals help them navigate the bureaucracy, apply for benefits, access social services. Public officials will tell you they love libraries and are committed to them; they just don't believe they constitute a "core" service.
But if you visit public libraries, you will see an essential service in action. Librarians help people who don't have other ways to get online, can't get the answers they urgently need, or simply need a safe place to bring their children.
