Libraries aren't just museums for books, people. Real life people come there for information on services to try to often save their lives. Info on doctors, domestic violence shelters, help to get jobs. Stop funding everything that rich folk want and leave libraries the fuck alone
When I worked in libraries people would come in desperate for information about their problems. They knew that it was safe, free, and somebody would at least try to help them without judgment.
know what else saveS folks lives? PLEASURE. There are still people who can't afford tv and streaming services. Maybe grandma just wants to read a juicy romance, maybe your weird uncle on public assistance wants to study ancient gardening techniques. LIBRARIES DO THAT. FOR FREE!
Take a look at a gentrifying area and what goes in FAST. Green space. Good places to gather to drink and eat (and not be harassed). Bookstores and places to indulge hobbies, record stores, etc. EVERYBODY DESERVES THAT.
In poor communities, libraries are often that space because the people know that they are not welcome in those other places. Libraries are often the ANTIDOTE to being pushed out of your own city. An oasis of pride and welcome.
like @tayari said, our taxes fund these places of hope. I went three times last week. But you know what else? those shiny new businesses are getting all kinds of tax breaks and incentives. Who gets the benefit? I think I'm working my way to asking who gets to be a full citizen?
Look. I'm about to walk to a gentrification palace for an expensive coffee and write in my moleskine. But last week I bought a Zapp album from the library book sale and accidentally found a listing for my great uncle in a Memphis Negro Chamber of Commerce directory from 1943.
Citizens should be able to live where they live. To have the full rights and pleasures that their city of residence has to offer. Memphis (my hometown) calls itself "The City of Good Abode." I'm always asking, but for whom?
Libraries are communities. I realize that I put the essay that wrote about the importance of libraries on another thread, but here is the the piece that I wrote about women, community, and libraries for the @oxfordamerican oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/…
I also wrote about a very complex library assistant in this anthology, but see if your local library has it! akashicbooks.com/catalog/memphi…
