RE: Question for Tuesday, September 26: What Can Libraries Do,What Do Libraries Need

[Rebekah Tanner <foxgull@netscape.net>]

I have been writing at some length about what libraries can do, using one project, the Mohawk Valley Library Association's "Resources for Economic Viability in Sustainable Agriculture", a two-year project funded with Federal Library Services and Technology Act monies granted to this smallest public library system in New York Stae by the NY State Library, as my spring-board.

What libraries can do -- above and beyond the collection management / Web-site development (especially public training & research-guides) that one may think of as "traditional" roles is VERY MUCH!

Public libraries can avail (rent) space to interested groups needing a place to meet; they can organize their own study groups, focus groups, book discussions; they can be venues for a wide range of public programs from puppet shows with educational themes for children to sophisticated panal discussions; they can go "on the road" with laptops and electronic media to the sites of likely audiences -- in NY for example, at the annual Clearwater Revival if Hudson River issues are the topic being presented, as Newburgh Library is just at the beginning of -- and on & on. But what does all this take? MONEY! 

And beyond the money? Time, willing staff, sufficient training, an interest in the materials -- we all know what it takes!

It takes INTEGRITY. That noblest of qualities -- the integrity to present a well-balanced, fair, uncensored and neutral platform for the most wide-reaching information gathering and information sharing needs of an informed populace!

Enough of my "soap box!"
Walk in Peace!
Rebekah Tanner