A CITY IS ONLY AS VIBRANT AS ITS LIBRARY
02.25.2010 // by: Sarah
Sarah Lester is Stand’s former campaign coordinator and our resident library connoisseur. Here, in anticipation of next week’s City Share with Sari Feldman of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, she tells a little about her library philosophy and the experience of her library travels.
I love experiencing cities. To tap into the pulse of an unfamiliar city, there’s one place I always go. The library. To me, the library speaks louder and clearer than any brochure or tour guide, and it tells me how the city perceives itself and its people. Does the experience of a city stop as you pass through the library’s doors, or is it an extension of this experience?
Here’s my soapbox soliloquy.
A library should be a microcosm of its community—a place where people are encouraged to gather, to interact with each other and with new ideas. It’s more than a static archive for books. It’s a free resource for people and a place to build community. What happens when a library becomes a hub for planning and learning and playing, when it welcomes the messy intersection of community and the creative process? This process isn’t always clean and it’s not always quiet.
The libraries I’ve visited in the last six months are doing something right. I take pictures, I ask questions, and then I come home. I appreciate our local library for what it is - but that doesn’t stop me from wanting more. What if we really put this public resource to use? We can do more with what we have - we can be more relevant, more multi-purpose, more people-friendly, more creative, more talkative.
Fairhope, Alabama. With a population of 14,000 residents, this small-town library averages 700 visitors per day, and 17,000 visitors per month. Now that’s a library!
Seattle, Washington. The downtown central library literally brought me to tears. Clearly, whoever transformed the old “brutalist” architecture into today’s marvel loved more than books - they loved people. It’s a creative design that begs to be used, to be lived in; it reflects an understanding that a library is far more than an archive for books.
Vancouver, Canada. Surrounding the library’s quiet interior are small kiosk-cafes. Don’t leave - just step put of the stacks. Grab a book, find a friend, and talk to your heart’s content.
Indianapolis, Indiana. The Learning Curve at the Central Indy library made me want to be a kid again. Thankfully, they let big kids share in the fun.
Last year, the City of Chattanooga’s Library Task Force released “The Challenge of Change,” a comprehensive analysis of our library system. With this report in mind, along with the Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial LIbrary‘s recent (though very small) boost in funding, we hope that Chattanoogans will either begin or continue to ask: What would make our libraries better? Join us next Wednesday, March 3 for a City Share focused on libraries, featuring Sari Feldman, the director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library system of Cleveland, Ohio and its surrounding suburbs since 2003. For the last year, Feldman has also served as president of the Public Library Association.
Since Feldman became director, The Cuyahoga County Public Library has been on a mission to be at the center of community life by providing an environment where reading, lifelong learning and civic engagement thrive. Due to its renewed commitment to innovative and inclusive programming, friendly design, and continually progressive content, the library has since been named by Hennen’s American Public Library Rating System as the #1 library in the nation for its size for the last 6 years and is among the Library Journal‘s current Star Libraries.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP to blair [at] chattanoogastand [dot] com.
Page 1 of 1 pages