Cradle to Grave

Ever stop to think about what makes the library unique among a community's public services? It isn't just the fact that, unlike many, you can take it or leave it...And it isn't the fact that the library is pretty much user-centered in its mission. What makes a library unique is the fact that it is designed to serve the taxpayer across his or her lifespan and through all possible levels of social attainment.

Think about it...suppose a town builds a new jail. It benefits all by keeping criminals off the streets, so it offers safety. But how can the people footing the bill--taxpayers--interact with it daily? Drive by and look at it? Stand basking in the safety of quiet streets?

Or, how about a nice, new high school? Provides safe learning space for our teens, right? Jobs for teachers and principals and coaches and janitors. But if you aren't a teacher, student or a parent of students...

Now, I'm not making the case that jails and schools aren't surely necessary. They are and I thank Providence for them regularly as one who has children and fears psychopaths on the loose. My point is that the direct and immediate investment-to-return turnaround of the library is what makes it a unique service. A child can be a library user from the day of her birth in the ghetto and bring back the last two books she'll ever read on her Glory Morn 80 years later, upon which she woke up in a mansion.

From the cradle to the grave, the library gives back to the citizen. That is what makes it unique...and indispensable.

Think about it.