While most people immediately consider libraries as access to information, a library serves a subtle, underlying purpose. Libraries build community. Libraries provide a safe, pleasant, central location for neighbors, friends, and students. Every time we hold a class, host an author, provide a meeting room, or any number of other services, we are providing the underpinning that holds together a neighborhood. We are the village.
As we consider the role of the internet in providing library services, let us also consider the vital role we play in a democracy. Benjamin Franklin said, "Let the people know the truth, and the country will be safe." Our democracy is as strong as it's weakest link. Every time we provide a book to someone who cannot afford Barnes and Noble and Starbucks coffee, every time we provide free access to computers and databases, every time we provide free services to struggling students, or provide a safe, free, quiet place for them to collaborate on a homework assignment, we are strengthening our democracy.
No computer can ever take that place.
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