ON THE SHELVES: Why do we have libraries? Now, more than ever, library resources are the heart of the community in Newfoundland and Labrador

It doesn’t cost a cent to spend a morning, an afternoon or an entire day in any of Newfoundland and Labrador’s public library branches. Guzel Maksutova photo/Unsplash
It doesn’t cost a cent to spend a morning, an afternoon or an entire day in any of Newfoundland and Labrador’s public library branches. Guzel Maksutova photo/Unsplash

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — In his famous TED talk Start With Why, Simon Sinek encourages leaders in business to find a core mission that can lead their decision making.

This guiding principle will allow them, in turn, to offer better products and services to their customers. It’s a great exercise to figure out what motivates you to do what you do and how you can better serve the people who care about your enterprise.

When thinking about the library, I know many of my friends and family often imagine childhood afternoons spent looking at books with parents and caregivers and I’m glad that the library holds a place in their hearts as a cherished institution with happy memories.

However, I’d like to pose a question to you: in the age of information and Google, why do we have libraries at all? What is the library’s why?

In our current historical moment, we’re seeing a variety of new challenges emerging, including soaring inflation and feelings of displacement, disconnection and loneliness. There have been fewer gatherings, parties and celebrations in the last two years — all of the things that help us feel fulfilled and connected to those around us.

While I don’t mean to imply that libraries are the answer to these problems, they can be a good place to start.

Entrance to the library is, and always has been, free. It doesn’t cost a cent to spend a morning, an afternoon or an entire day in our branches.

At a time when everyday costs are higher than ever, having a place to go outside your home for an hour or two is a boon. I struggle to think of any other places I can go to sit down, drink my coffee and relax by myself that don’t cost me anything.

With Come Home Year around the corner, I know many families in the province will be returning for the first time in a long time and locals will be itching to get out of town for a night or two. With the prices of gas and everyday goods increasing, scoping out the local library on your vacation can also be a great cost-saving measure. You can also borrow a book, a DVD, a board game or a host of other local special collections from across the province to enrich your vacation.

One of the things the pandemic has done is highlight the need for community — to get to know the people around you and make connections with others. One of the primary functions our libraries serve is to offer programs throughout the province to their communities. It’s part of our service model. While branches can vary greatly in size and staff complement, the library can be a place for people to gather in a safe, free, setting.


With Come Home Year around the corner, I know many families in the province will be returning for the first time in a long time and locals will be itching to get out of town for a night or two. With the prices of gas and everyday goods increasing, scoping out the local library on your vacation can also be a great cost-saving measure. You can also borrow a book, a DVD, a board game or a host of other local special collections from across the province to enrich your vacation.


You can use our spaces for lots of things: studying, reading, research, meeting friends, attending a program, or just hanging out. You can also get involved as a volunteer by joining a local library board and help make decisions on behalf of your community branch.

Library space isn’t necessarily front of mind for most people as the library’s greatest asset, but those of us who work at the library know that our branches have great potential to act as gathering places and community hubs.

In other parts of the country and the world, they very often do.

One of the most important things we do is offer ways for people to stay connected. This includes a variety of information sources, though, perhaps most notably, all of our locations offer free public Wi-Fi and computers for you to use.

Public Internet access is crucial, especially considering how many government and public services have switched to primarily online rather than in-person models since 2020. It’s more important than ever to be able to access high-speed Internet and our libraries make that possible for thousands of people throughout Newfoundland and Labrador every day.

Even if you don’t plan on using a computer or accessing the Internet, our staff are waiting to greet you at all of our locations. Face-to-face connection is important too and we’re glad to be able to serve you in person.

Of course, we also provide tens of thousands of items, including print and digital fiction and nonfiction titles, audio and e-audiobooks, local, national and international newspapers via Pressreader and lots of other types of material in our print and digital collections.

Our libraries exist to meet the needs of the province’s people. Yes, all people, including you.

When I think of the library, I think of my community. I think of all of my neighbours, the people I pass on the sidewalk on my way to work, and the people I wait with in line at the grocery store.

I encourage you to get out and use your public library this month, whether to attend a program, borrow an item, get a card, meet somebody new or just enjoy our space.

After all, the library should be a reflection of its community, because the library’s why is people.

It’s us.

It’s you.


Sarah Bartlett is the eastern regional librarian for the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Did our content resonate with you?

You can support journalism and our mission to make communities better by becoming a member today.

View our Membership Options
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/lifestyles/on-the-shelves-why-do-we-have-libraries-now-more-than-ever-library-resources-are-the-heart-of-the-community-in-newfoundland-and-labrador-100733925/
www.saltwire.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2022-27
253441
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:OXLNI7F4E7DPGDVYVCPAILFVOKJVWA5Z
<urn:uuid:3b85aacf-acc4-4dc4-ab11-1c2072568913>
2022-07-02T02:06:08Z
104.21.32.46
text/html
sha1:ZNOLSR2IC5BZVY2RKBGMAMBJQDOJBHPU
<urn:uuid:c39be341-a744-4252-8819-fe1c75a2ede1>
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/lifestyles/on-the-shelves-why-do-we-have-libraries-now-more-than-ever-library-resources-are-the-heart-of-the-community-in-newfoundland-and-labrador-100733925/
response
<urn:uuid:5689495f-2b76-48a9-95e4-174e27f2ae8b>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-27
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for June/July 2022
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-134
software: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.3-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/