The Beauty of Library Investment

I’ve written about the importance of libraries before, most recently on August 13 (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/2016/08/public-libraries-essential-for-democracy.html).  Since my local library is now closed, I was interested in an article in The Atlantic which stated that “there’s empirical evidence that usage tracks investment. If libraries receive more public funds, more people use them. . . . The correlation between investment and use makes sense. If libraries have more funds, they can have more staff, more classes, more copies of the latest bestseller, and—maybe most importantly—longer hours” (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/americans-like-their-libraries-but-they-use-them-less-and-less-pew/477336/).

I’ve also posted about beautiful libraries around the world:  http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/2015/08/the-meaning-and-beauty-of-libraries.html. 

The Library of Parliament in Ottawa and the Vancouver Public Library have both made lists of the world’s most beautiful libraries, so I was pleased that another Canadian library has made the list.  The Halifax Library has been added to the list of beautiful new libraries built in the last few years:  https://www.wired.com/2016/09/settle-10-beautiful-libraries-earth/?platform=hootsuite.

Though not all libraries can make a list of the world’s most beautiful, all libraries are important community resources.  “If you build it [and fund it properly], [they] will come!”