Funding for libraries is becoming more important, not less

Shhh, quiet!

Come Wednesday, some timeworn stereotypes about the hushed silence of libraries will be challenged.

Librarians and some of their most fervent patrons — teenagers — plan to bite back at stalled spending on public libraries around Missouri. Two busloads of teenagers, many out of school for spring break, will be in the Kansas City group descending on the state capitol to meet with local representatives and to protest through a rally.

Missouri legislators can expect to hear concerns about the withholding of more than $6 million in state funding that has been appropriated for public libraries. The fear is that if they do not restore the funding, it will disappear from future budgets.

Locally, the 10 branches of the Kansas City Public Library and the 35 locations of the Mid-Continent system (some are outside the Kansas City area) are affected.

If you are thinking that dusty old books are so yesterday, you are mistaken. Public libraries are bustling with activity and connectivity. The Kansas City system acquires an e-book along with the paper or hardback version of just about every new purchase. It has five 3-D printers and a mobile lab to cart the devices to events.

Business is booming. Kansas City’s branches see about 300 new patrons every month. Attendance to their vast range of lectures and public programs is up more than 20 percent, serving over 14,000 people a month.

Public libraries are akin to public education. They are equalizers offering a world of literature and knowledge to anyone who wants to partake.

Libraries are safe havens in neighborhoods where crime is higher. Some youths arrive after school and don’t leave until closing. They are where those without Internet access go to apply for jobs posted online.

For rural areas, the concern is dire. There, state funding makes up a far larger portion of library budgets. In December, the state relented and released about $723,000 to libraries in communities with less than 40,000 residents. But they still face other proposed cuts, as do the libraries in larger cities.

Where and to whom you are born is a roll of the dice. What you make of it is largely up to each person. Yet what is available to help via public funding, well, that’s left to entities like the state legislature to decide.

Let’s hope the politicians are in touch with the importance of public libraries. Or that they are at least willing to learn.

This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Funding for libraries is becoming more important, not less."