For every ten people who visit the Galesburg Public Library, 11 books are checked out. Some of those books will come back so well loved that they’ll need to be repaired or replaced. Of those ten people, one will log in to a public computer, one will attend a program, two will ask librarians for help finding information, and three will use the library’s free Wi-Fi. Some of them will read a newspaper, some will play with their children in the Imagination Station, some will work quietly at a table, and others will chat with their friends over a board game. After they leave, the newspapers will be put away and the chairs will be pushed in and the floor will be vacuumed. Soon the walls will need to be repainted and the light bulbs and batteries replaced.
Two and a half years after opening, the Galesburg Public Library and all of its spaces are well used and well loved. There isn’t a corner of the building, inside or out, that doesn’t tell the story of the 350,000 visitors we’ve had in this building so far. The only pristine part of the property is the book that hasn’t been read yet. The public building is fully utilized by the public. And that is a good thing. The people are the point. Everything else, the armchair and the video game and the drinking fountain, is a tool, a means to serve a community that keeps showing up to use those tools, over and over again.
The first law of library science, published 95 years ago by librarian Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, is that Books are for Use. Public libraries are not repositories or museums. Library staff are not gatekeepers, protecting the books inside from the hands of the people who want them. Rather, we protect the rights of those people to seek the books they want, for any reason they want. Books are meant to be borrowed and enjoyed and shared. That first law of library science could apply to any other resource libraries offer. Just as books are for use, toys are for use. Outlets are for use. Benches are for use. And when these resources are used, we celebrate, because they’re being used by the people who own them: the public.
When Galesburg’s Carnegie Library opened in 1902, then board president, Albert Perry, stated at the building’s dedication, “To this building we invite you all, without distinction of any kind. It is yours and all the books that it contains, and we trust and believe that it contains something beneficial to every citizen of this city.” We strive for that philosophy today. That’s why our collection includes memory kits for those with dementia, textured puzzles for those with low vision, and books written in French or Spanish. That’s why we provide mobility devices and sensory kits to be used by visitors. That’s why our team of volunteers includes tech tutors and crochet instructors—to ensure that every resident of this city finds something at the library to benefit them. Every library has a responsibility to curate a collection of resources to make available for use by community members, and every community member’s role is to make use of those resources. So, use your libraries! Take advantage of the events and spaces and collections that belong to you and to your neighbors, share those resources with the people around you, and keep showing up.
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