Public
Last night we were watching the fund-raising breaks on Wisconsin Public Television and one of the hosts asked us to focus on the word “public” in the name. That brought me to focus my thinking on Public Libraries and that word “public.”
As usual, I look to Merriam-Webster offer definition and insight for a word. The word “public” brought several interesting possibilities:
Open, well-known, prominent, perceptible, material.
And more:
of, relating to, or affecting all the people or the whole area of a nation or state
of or relating to a government
of, relating to, or being in the service of the community or nation.
When I think of public libraries, I think all these descriptions and definitions apply.
- Public libraries are open to everyone, all the people in a community.
- In many towns, the public library is well-known, even prominent. A center where the community gathers and where individuals can find the information and books they want and need.
- Public libraries are part of the local government and are paid for by the taxes from all the members of the service area.
- Perceptible is a bit difficult to consider, but often the library is easily located in town and easy to get to.
- Material. Books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, oh my! And let’s even add the computers and access the to internet.
- And of course, in service of the community…the ultimate definition of a public library.
I think we can be proud of and support all the ways that our libraries are “public.”
Janet