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Libraries create community.
At least, that’s what Andrew Carnegie thought when he bankrolled library construction throughout the United States. That included Oregon’s first Carnegie library built in 1906, an upgrade from Eugene’s downtown reading room established by the women’s Fortnightly Club in 1898.
Taxpayer support for the Eugene library also came early: 1904.
What Carnegie didn’t provide were the books the buildings housed. That effort was the community responsibility, support that reflected the community itself.
In the century since the first Eugene Public Library was built, the facility has grown so much that it has changed address three times. The library moved into its current building downtown at 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street in 2002.
Fun contemporary facts.
Library cards are free to Eugene residents. So many people have them that, if we all got together, we would fill Autzen Stadium twice.
The Eugene library punches above its weight. It is the most used library facility in the state, serving more patrons than any other public library including those in larger metropolitan areas.
The Eugene Public Library is that rare place in modern society that you don’t have to have any sort of membership to use, and you don’t have to purchase anything while you are there. It is that safe space that welcomes everyone.
Libraries sustain community.
When our daughter had her first child (and our first grandson), six weeks of motherhood prompted her out of the house and to the downtown library for story time. She met other sleep-deprived parents seeking a community of the similarly stressed. It was the beginning of a parent support group that continues to this day.
For many children, story time is an introduction to books and to reading. It’s also an opportunity to socialize. Once in the library, there are books that can come home. No overdue book fees. Just books you can touch or listen to. Books filled with imaginative art and words that captivate.
Passage of the levy will expand the library’s commitment to early childhood literacy. The levy will pay for hiring a librarian whose major responsibility will be early childhood literacy, and it will provide funds to enhance the library materials that serve this essential need. Storytime-to-go will get a boost. The popular program was discontinued during the pandemic. If Eugene voters pass the levy, it will return — a service that in these days of two working parents and expensive transportation costs will be economical, educational and fun.
Libraries promote economic development.
The revamped floor of the downtown library branch is home to the “library of things”. There you can check out stuff that is not books. One Eugene resident started with a sewing machine. She now has a brick and mortar store. There’s cooking pans, tools of many sorts, garden equipment. All of this may not make a significant dent in your home or car repair budget, but every little bit helps.
Travel to the second floor. You’ll find people who don’t own personal computers using library computer facilities to search online for jobs or to complete job applications. Around the corner: computers and printing facilities for those who are “low vision” or blind.
My first introduction to the second floor — besides the nonfiction stacks — was my first knitting lesson. My teacher reserved one of the study rooms (for which she needed her library card), and for that hour she helped me untangle the pattern on a sweater I had been trying to knit my husband. I was able to pay for instruction I needed. In the spring, the library is also the home for tax preparation help for Eugene (and other) residents who meet certain criteria and need assistance.
Libraries help us imagine who we might be.
This is the first time in 20 years that the Eugene Public Library has asked for a levy increase. The increased levy, which will cost the “average home owner” about $54 per year, will sustain three library branches, books and the digital resources (think anything that comes to you via computer/phone screen), and innovative programming.
Look at it this way. My household subscribes to Netflix. Last week, Netflix raised my monthly rates. It didn’t ask my permission. It didn’t provide me with more services. It just sent me a bill.
Or, you can look at it through the eyes of Allistair Rutherford, who says the library was her “lifeboat” when she was in middle school, homeless and in need of so much help it was hard for her to know where to turn.
Please vote on May 19. It’s important. If you do decide to vote, please vote in favor of the library levy.
