Libraries and the Power of Place

We’ve had the opportunity to visit so many wonderful public libraries. Arriving at a library and walking through its doors is always a special feeling. As the ways people engage with information - and the ways libraries provide access to information - change, it’s important to remember and recognize the power of place when it comes to public libraries. That is especially true as we arrive at a new normal and return to visiting “places.”

Our mission - to explore, document, and promote the essential role of public libraries in our communities - has allowed us to visit more than 400 libraries across the country and in Europe. We approach libraries critically but without judgment. We have seen firsthand - again and again - just how vital and powerful the physical space and placement of public libraries can be.

The Power of Place

What is the power of place? It is the importance and impact of the physical presence of a public library. Whether on the town green (as so many are here in New England), in a suburban strip mall, or on a busy city street, libraries bring more to their communities than books. And just like the communities they serve, libraries come in endless variations.

They are anchors in the communities. Often, they are prominent and beautiful buildings in the towns and cities they serve. Even if not beautiful, they still serve as landmarks and reference points (no pun intended). Their physicality helps libraries serve their missions, provides support in times of need, and can represent their communities with pride. Often, they are the only public space in a given community, and that is a critical role.

During the time of Covid challenges, more services moved online. This was an amazing and adaptable thing - and we loved hearing about libraries that suddenly found people participating from near and far. But it still removes that physical connection, and few libraries are back to where they were. We’ve been hearing about many libraries doing campaigns to remind people to come back and totally support this in whatever way we can.

On the flip side, there is a growing problem of placelessness that libraries face. It started positively enough with the rise of digital resources and services. Libraries were digital before digital was cool, and that’s a good thing - but it removes the sense of place. The shift to digital encourages people to search rather than explore. Exploration is an open-ended activity that is its own reward, while searching is more transactional - the end being the goal.

Let me put on my PR hat for a moment.  In 2017, I was with an agency and looked at how people viewed information. Sadly, many people don’t really consider its source. Something appears in their newsfeed or at the top of a search page, and that’s good enough. No, actually, it isn’t, and it points to a more significant problem around information literacy and critical thinking. Libraries are essential for addressing these issues - but not if they become just another undifferentiated online information source.

Libraries are so much more than that.

Access to Information Resources and Services

On our travels, we’ve come to recognize that libraries as physical spaces provide two big benefits. First, they provide centralized access to information, resources, and services. This is a really big deal. Too many people think of libraries as little more than book museums. They aren’t now, and frankly, never were. Information takes many forms, as do the tools for putting information to work.

Public access to technology and connectivity are essential. Without those, digital services would not be available to many people. The unhoused and economically marginalized, students who need a quiet place to study, and home-based workers looking for a change of scenery all benefit from these services. There is no other free public access to these types of resources. That is the power of place.

They are also places where physical items can be accessed. Not just books, but maker spaces, library of things collections, in-person events, artwork, and access to services that are simply too expensive for many individuals to own - and which can’t be made available freely online. In that category are things like Bloomberg terminals, as is the case at the Kirstein Business Library at the Boston Public Library.

Libraries provide something for everyone. This shows in many ways. One is the fact that many kinds of people can share the space independently in ways that are satisfying for all.

They meet more needs than most people realize, some of which no one expects. For example, we’ve seen several libraries that also serve as emergency shelters. Across the midwest, we saw tornado shelters in places like Indianapolis, and Crete, Nebraska. In Pembroke, Massachusetts, the library is a shelter for people and animals.

The most important resource libraries provide are their people. Having met with thousands of library workers at hundreds of public libraries, we’ve had many opportunities to watch librarians in action. It’s amazing. On a visit to the Johnstown public library in Pennsylvania, I watched a patron, in tears and filled with gratitude, hug the librarian who had just solved a major problem. It was a level of connection that could only happen in a physical space.

A Third Place

Next is the opportunity to serve as a third place - not home, school, or work. A place where people want to spend their time. This experience of space is something libraries deliver that digital services can’t match. The very act of providing a place where community members can be in a space with no commercial expectations is a powerful thing. 

Libraries provide spaces for inspiration, creation, and discovery. These things may or may not be related to specific library resources beyond the space itself. In one conversation with a non-library user, they described working at a Starbucks and wondered how or why a library might be better. Their jaw dropped when shown images of some of the library spaces we’ve seen. They hadn’t realized how beautiful and inspiring these places can be.

Libraries can also represent and recognize a community’s shared history. So many libraries, sitting in the center of a community, serve as memorials to fallen heroes, important families, and famed benefactors. The Adams Free Library in Adams, Massachusetts, was built both as a library, as well as a Grand Army of The Republic Hall (a place for Civil War veterans to meet). Today, that space remains as it was in the 1890s and is a fantastic place to visit and reflect.

Libraries also go beyond their walls when it comes to space. Many libraries feature amazing gardens or trails to explore. These can come in all shapes and sizes, but each can contribute to an experience it takes space to deliver and appreciate. 

One of our long-time favorites is the accessible nature trail at the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, Massachusetts, where our board member Deb Spratt is the director. We first saw this trail years ago and were blown away. The STEAM garden at the Advanced Learning Library in Wichita is another great example of what outdoor spaces can look like in a public library.

Another trend we’ve seen - that sadly waxes and wanes - is the library’s potential as a neutral ground for bringing people together. We’ve written about “bridging” programs in the past. They offer a powerful approach to helping people connect and understand different perspectives. 

Always More Than Books

Whenever we hear narrow descriptions of what libraries can be or how they need to “get back to basics,” we point people to the Braddock Carnegie Library in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

The first Carnegie in the United States, the Braddock, which opened in the 1890s, was filled with resources and services far beyond books. 

It featured a massive swimming pool, an 1100-seat music hall, a gym, a bowling alley, and many other unexpected features. These things were provided for the workers at Carnegie’s first steel mill. (The White workers, Black workers had to be satisfied with borrowing books.) The library - and these broad services - recognized the importance of the physical space and potential of the public library, an importance that remains just as true today.

Library use changed in the wake of Covid. The expansion of digital resources and services is a wonderful thing. As essential and appealing as these services might be, we need to remember, celebrate, and preserve the importance of place when it comes to public libraries.