Let Libraries Live

BY HOPE M.

“Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!” This mantra from the children’s show Arthur is something many of us grew up hearing and still hear today. However, that library fun is about to be a lot more limited with current Indiana and national legislation. 

 Recently, SB 1 passed and has been signed into law as Public Law 68. This bill features a limit on property tax, which impacts library funding. This, in combination with the cutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is hitting libraries hard. Libraries throughout the state are feeling the very real impact of these actions. This won’t just impact libraries and their employees, but will impact us as library patrons. Many libraries are having to reduce or cut resources and programming. This looks like limiting the use of digital book and audiobook providers such as Libby and Hoopla. Or, on the programming end, reducing the amount of afterschool activities offered for kids or groups for adults. In some cases this may even look like libraries no longer being able to sustain interlibrary loan programs meaning that if your local library doesn’t have a copy of a book they will no longer be able to request it for you from another library. There are probably libraries that will have to majorly revise how they function or even close. This is especially true for smaller, more rural libraries.

You may be thinking “gee, this is all doom and gloom. It sounds like it’s too late for me to do anything so why bother.”  BUT! It’s not too late to get involved in the fight for libraries. 

Here are ways that YOU can help: 

1. Use library resources! Check-out books, use resources, and attend library programs. 

2. Contact your representatives! The American Library Association has compiled these links to make contacting your representatives a breeze.

3. Share your library experience. Tell others how libraries have impacted your life. 

Spread the word and stay informed. Make sure you and others in your life are up to date on what is going on with libraries. The Indiana Library Federation is a great way to stay up to date with what’s going on in the library world. Check out this link for more from ILF.