Why have a municipal library?
Libraries are part of municipal government in BC and most cities elect to run their own municipal public library system because of the value that this provides. The question of value matters, especially for public programs funded through taxes. Why should Prince Rupert run its own municipal library? What’s its value to our city and community? Why continue with a city-run public library for the residents and businesses of Prince Rupert?
At one level, the city’s public library is one of several public amenities run by the city. As with its other public amenities, like the city’s recreation complex, civic centre, aquatic centre, and parks, the city’s locally run public library enhances overall quality of life in the city, as a publicly provided service to the community. All these fully public amenities enhance health, community, culture, sport, connection, education, and recreation for the city’s residents.
The library does this by providing residents with access to books, other media, technology, programs, and periodicals. It also “circulates” experiences, such as ski passes that can be checked out from the library. In addition, the library offers a community hub, a place for gathering, storytelling, and celebrating the literary and information arts. Local governments offer a range of public amenities, providing a balanced approach to include all residents in these offerings for all community members.
Beyond providing municipal (fully public) amenities, the city also supports other community amenities for its residents. These include the golf course, curling centre, racquet court, gymnastics facility, museum, performing arts centre, and special events society. These amenities are backed by city government with funding supports and are often located on land or buildings owned by the city.
Community amenities provide tremendous value to the city and community, operating on a not-for-profit basis, and support cultural and economic activity, improve the quality of life for all residents, and enrich local democracy by involving the community in directly running the non-profit societies that operate them all.
As with the city’s own, fully public, amenities, city-supported amenities provide services for health, community, culture, sport, connection, education, and recreation. They are essential for quality of life in Prince Rupert and benefit everyone living here.
But a library is also more than an amenity. It is a bedrock of democracy and freedom. This is recognized, in part, by the fact that the province has enacted legislation specific to the establishment of public libraries in communities throughout the province.
Public libraries, like public safety, fire protection, water and sewer, solid and liquid waste, zoning and land-use, and roads are the responsibility of local government in BC. As with other local government services, public libraries are funded almost entirely through local taxes and must provide a public benefit for the community.
The Library Act not only establishes public libraries and sets out how they are to be governed, but it also requires that public libraries not charge for admission or for the use of most materials provided by the library. Public libraries in B.C.are therefore required, by law, to be free and open to all residents. The primary public service provided by the Prince Rupert Public Library is open access to information and ideas, provided freely for all residents.
The library also promotes of the values of education and literacy more broadly, breaks down barriers to full participation in the life of the community, and sustains local democracy by building community, promoting transparency, and engaging in a world of facts, pluralism, and free speech. Living a free and democratic country like Canada, it’s easy to take for granted that democracy isn’t an automatic thing.
Far from being easy and automatic, democracy requires infrastructure and institutions that allow everyone to have an equal voice. It also requires the work of individual citizens to help maintain democracy. Public libraries make it possible for every citizen, or resident, to take on this role – regardless of how much money you have or you proximity to established power.
The library’s primary role is to help build, sustain, rebuild, and nurture democracy. Its ultimate job is to help us all nurture democracy, passing it to the next generation. The true value of a library stems from its role in supporting democracy. Historically, we established libraries to help build and maintain our democratic society. In today’s information age, we need libraries more than ever.
Given all this, a local library, one which is run by and for the community in which it is based, knows how to serve the community best, knows how to nurture democracy in that community best, and knows how to help open up and share information as widely in a community as possible. In short: Want local democracy? Then support your local library. Democracy depends on open information, universal literacy, and community spaces for everyone.
Disclosure: My husband Ron Braun is a city-appointed member of the municipal library board and I am a member of the PRDTU’s Keep Our Local Library Local Campaign committee. The views expressed on this blog are my own.
