Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Libraries are Rebuilding America from the Bottom Up

In building on this site's theme of "Rebuilding America from the Bottom Up," we come to the, perhaps unlikely, subject of libraries.

Over at New Geography, Michael Scott writes about "How Libraries and Bookstores Became New Community Centers", an encouraging sign in our post-literate world.   As a "third place" in addition to home and work, Scott writes that libraries and bookstores serve a role "vitally important to the social fabric of communities because they facilitate the healthy exchange of ideas and provide a public venue for civil debate and community engagement."

Libraries and bookstores have been around for thousands of years, and like every other institution, are having to re-invent themselves for a new, digital age.  In a less remembered episode from the gilded age, steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave away millions of dollars of his fortune to fund the building of Carnegie libraries across the country.  At one point, Carnegie was responsible for creating half of the nation's libraries.  His thought was that, by providing greater access to knowledge, members of the working class could improve their economic status.  Carnegie himself was an immigrant and self-made man and wanted to give others the chance to achieve the success he had.

The libraries themselves were often a marvel of architecture.  Here in Minnesota, the 1904 Carnegie Library of Little Falls is an excellent example of the genre,



At the other end of the size spectrum, but no less an exquisite example of architecture, are the "Little Free Libraries,"


(Photo: Minneapolis Star Tribune)
The "brainchild of Stillwater, Minnesota, native Todd Bol," Little Free Libraries are small, wooden neighborhood kiosks where local residents can exchange books.  The size of birdhouses, these mini libraries have sprung up around Minnesota and other states and provide the same sort of community gathering place that Scott describes, except at street level.  As reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, one user raves,

" 'We live in a neighborhood where you can spit on the next residence, but that still doesn't mean you talk to them.  These people across the street stopped and talked to us for the first time ever by the library.'

"That's a common occurrence, according to Bol, who now lives in Hudson, Wis.  He came up with the idea two years ago and started the nonprofit company Little Free Library with his friend Rick Brooks of Madison, Wis.

" 'What we have found is that the neighborhood starts to feel like it's theirs,'  Bol said.  "The neighborhood starts taking care of it.  People come together to talk about literacy, educationcommunity things that we define so well but lack so much.  There is such polarity these days that this is a little common place that we're comfortable with.' "

So far, no government grants, just volunteers.  A great, private-sector community idea.

These honor system "take a book, leave a book" boxes, costing only a few hundred dollars, are rebuilding America one street at a time.

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