At your fingertips
- brahamfiction
- May 3
- 2 min read
National Library Week was last month, April 19-25. Starting in 1958, the annual observance is a celebration of public libraries, library professionals and volunteers and the significant role they play in education and childhood development.
Your public library is an amazing place deserving of much more than just one week of celebration per year and the constant battles they fight when seeking municipal funding. Staffed by dedicated individuals who are passionate about reading, libraries should be regarded as essential community anchors and shrines to the First Amendment. They are literal warehouses of history and the holders of unlimited knowledge.
Multiple authors suggest, in order to become a better writer that you should read more often...particularly in your chosen genre. Your local public library is an invaluable resource. Not only can you read the work of your favorite author you can also learn about the actual writing process, grammar, plot structure and even publishing and marketing your own works. Most likely that information is on the internet, however multiple studies show that reading print books leads to better reading comprehension and deeper learning compared to digital reading. Teacher tuned cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on January 15, 2026 that as classroom technology use increases, academic performance falls. Get to the library and pick up a book.
Most public libraries offer much more than just books. Evolving over the years, some now rent music, movies, video games, laptops, board games and in some locations they even offer tools and camping equipment. Libraries can provide access to the internet, popular magazines, local newspapers, classes in a variety of subjects and a litany of free events. Your library card may include memberships to online classes from Rosetta Stone for languages or LinkedIn Learning, movie streaming service Kanopy and online e-book library applications like Libby.
Part of your local public library’s yearly operating budget is affected by the number of library cards issued. So, even if you are not an avid reader, visit your library and sign up today. Of course that budget can also be dependent on how often those library cards are used, so if you are not an avid reader perhaps you should consider it...because, as I like to say (paraphrasing astronomer, Carl Sagan) “Books are magic.”
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