Communities
By Janet Pugh, President
This afternoon I was part of a conversation about communities … those groups we belong to both by choice and by heritage. Communities are more than one person. The people in a community share an interest, an activity, an experience, and relationships. We are all products of several different communities. One woman in the circle where we were learning about communities mentioned the local library, and that got me thinking.
Two questions may be important in understanding our presence in a community. “What do I need from my community?” and “What does the community need from me?”
So … what about library communities?
There is the community of readers, not just solitary readers, but members of book groups, the children’s story hour, the board of trustees. There is the library staff who know their users, and work hard to have the kind of books and music and other stuff to meet the needs of those faithful folks. In turn, we library users, are willing to financially support the structures that fund the library.
The library exists in a community of agencies, businesses, government. These groups support one another in multiple ways. Library staff interact with these groups in support of the municipal community where they are located. Together they work to insure the economic and social health of the wider community.
Then there is a community of librarians … like the South Central Library System. Libraries agree to financially support the system, and the system, in turn, supports libraries and their staff. Where would we be without LINK?
The South Central Foundation brings together a number of these groups: library staff, library users, library boards of trustees. Managing financial resources in common brings additional monies that can be used by member libraries. It also provides funds for the Foundation to underwrite materials and services for all South Central Libraries.
For the benefit of us all, libraries encourage and support multiple communities. And I am glad to be part of such a dynamic, creative, and supportive community.