Public libraries: the hub of our communities.

• Author: Senville, Wayne

Sometimes the key to a vibrant, healthy community centre can be right under our nose, hidden in plain sight. For too long public libraries have been under appreciated by decision makers and funders, often drawing less interest and attention than a new sports arena, shopping complex, office tower or theatre. This has begun to change as more communities and their elected and other decision makers are recognising the economic and other engines which public libraries provide. The troublesome cloud over this bright picture in the US and in Australia is lack of state funding at the same time as states lavish support on many economic development projects, sometimes of questionable value.

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This article was published in the summer 2009 issue of the Planning commissioners journal, the principal US publication for 'citizen planners,' including town, city, and regional planning commissioners. Its text is reprinted with permission, and the original full version, including photographs of US libraries, is available as a pdf from pcoffice@gmail.com. For more information about the Planning commissioners journal visit its website and blog at www.plannersweb.com.

The issues, challenges and outcomes for communities of better investment in public libraries have a US emphasis, but resonate well with the lack of public library awareness among still too many decision makers in Australia and New Zealand. Aplis readers are therefore urged to supply copies of the original of this article for awareness raising to local government senior managers, planners, elected members and state and national politicians Alan Bundy editor

There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration. Andrew Carnegie

Is there a place in your community where residents of all ages and incomes visit and enjoy spending their time?

* where people go to hear interesting speakers discuss new ideas, books, travel, and a broad range of topics?

* where comprehensive databases are available free of charge?

* where you can get help when applying for a job?

* where you can stop by and take home a book, cd, or dvd at virtually no cost?

That is also a place

* that's 'owned' by everyone in the community?

* and can be counted on, day after day, to draw people downtown or to main street?

In a growing number of cities and towns, there's one place that answers all these questions: the public library.

Anchors for our cities and towns

Dramatic new or renovated libraries have become cornerstones of downtown in dozens of US cities, including Denver, San Antonio, Des Moines, Indianapolis, and Salt Lake City, to name a few.

Noted architect and writer Witold Rybczynski offers an online slide show titled How do you build a public library in the age of Google? (1) His main point: libraries are far from dead in today's internet age--in fact, they are making a comeback as key anchors in our downtowns. Indeed, they are bringing us full circle to the 'end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago built ambitious public libraries'.

It is important to recognise, however, that it is not just big cities that benefit from libraries. In fact smaller cities and towns may have even more to gain from having a thriving library as they do not have the range of community gathering places that larger cities often have.

Reporter Annie Stamper writes that

No more just a place to find books, today's library is a place that extends far beyond its physical walls with the addition of digital information and access. Particularly in small towns, the library is often the hub of the community, providing a place for residents to meet, as well as to learn. (2) Libraries, like city halls and post offices, are key to strong communities. Ed McMahon, a senior fellow at the US Urban Land Institute, has pointed out that

public buildings and spaces create identity and a sense of place. They give communities something to remember and admire. The challenge facing public architecture is to provide every generation with structures that link them with their past, fill them with pride, and reinforce their sense of belonging. (3) Keeping libraries in the centre of town, and having them reflect high standards of design, is a challenge a growing number of communities are successfully meeting.

Hudson's star attraction

I stopped in Hudson, Ohio this April as part of my circle the USA trip to learn about its library. Hudson is a small city of 22,439, midway between Cleveland and Akron. It has elements of both a suburb and a small town. In the centre of Hudson is its historic Main Street business district, home to the city's library.

Opened in 2005, the library is housed in a stately brick building, with functional but very attractively designed interior spaces. The heart of the library is its rotunda, proof that the design of libraries today can match that of the classic Carnegie library buildings of a century ago.

New libraries tend to need considerably more space than their earlier counterparts. That is the case in Hudson, where the new library building (at 50,000 square feet) is much bigger than the old building (at 17,000 square feet). At first blush this seems counter intuitive. Why in today's internet and digital age would libraries need to be larger? More importantly, why do they seem in even greater demand?

I asked assistant director Margie Smith what draws people to the Hudson library. She replied

It's become the cultural, entertainment, and social hub of Hudson. The library programs a lot of readings, there are musical performances every week, and we also have meeting rooms. Add in over 50 public computer terminals, access to state and local databases, and a collection of more than 7,000 dvds. Plus a coffee shop to hang out in, and an outdoor patio. You can even borrow laptops from the library, and use them anywhere in the building or on the patio.

While the library has a large children's reading room, Smith told me that perhaps...