Gannon’s attorney stated, “I don’t believe it’s fair to call a library anymore just a repository for books.” Judge denies Gannon, county motion to quash parts of ‘Keep Our Library Public’ lawsuit. We agree with that, to a certain extent. We’ve never called the library a repository for books–but a library has never been just a repository for books, and those of us that use and love the library know that. The Erie County Library System offers:
- Book in a Bag for book clubs
- The Heritage Room
- Public computers and internet access
- Copy printing (which earns the library more than this lease)
- Faxing
- Admiral Room and Hirt Auditorium rentals (which under the lease Gannon now gets for free)
- The Idea Lab
- Maker kits
- Seeds for your garden
- Fishing rods
- Storytime
- Building with block opportunities
- Yoga
- Read to a therapy dog
- Movie nights
- Special events
- Streaming services
- Digital books and audio books
The library is a space for the community! It’s a space for the librarians and the community to program together. Gannon does not even have a library science program. Why do they think they can better program for the community? Their occupation of the library limits the space where the community can grow within our public library!
What do you enjoy doing at the library? Is there anything on the list that you enjoy that we missed? Leave your feedback on library programs in the comments.
PS Gannon and the county executive lost their bid to have part of the lawsuit dismissed.
“A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.”
~Andrew Carnegie
Keep Our Library Public! 