Support Your Local Library, Always and Forever
This OTYCD post originally appeared in January 2018.
Support your local library, always and forever.
Libraries are many things to many people. They’re often the heart of the community, or at least a vital organ that helps it survive and thrive. Its employees respect knowledge and provide the tools to fight back against fake news and attempts to undermine the truth.
Librarians are also foot soldiers in the resistance, both the capital-R Resistance going on now and resistance efforts in the past. When Trump declared his Muslim travel ban, librarians pushed back with “Libraries Are for Everyone”–imagery, book displays, and declarations that underline the fact that libraries are, indeed, open to one and all. Several leading library organizations also condemned the ban.
You have many options for supporting your local library.
The biggest and most effective one is to use it regularly.
Don’t have a library card? Get one, and make sure everyone in your family has one.
Go to the library often. Follow it on social media. Attend library events that interest you, and bring friends.
Spend liberally at library book sales. Check out books and other media, and bring them back on time.
If you don’t use your library you do run the risk of losing it.
You can also volunteer, join a “Friends of the Library” group, or donate money. Please stay alert to state and local legislative efforts that might affect library funding and access.
As for donating books–first, ask the librarians if they’re accepting book donations and if so, what types of books they’re currently seeking. They may not need what you have; don’t be offended if they turn you down.
Also, run the used books’ ISBN numbers through Amazon’s trade-in link to see if they’re actually worth anything (see link below). Don’t donate them unless they are. And don’t be offended if the library ends up selling your donated books.
https://www.amazon.com/Sell-Books/b?node=2205237011
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Read about how libraries and librarians have been leading the resistance to Trump:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/librarians-protesting-trumps-executive-orders/
http://mashable.com/2017/02/21/library-donald-trump-resistance/#h2S2kJpDDmqV
Read this GOOD article on how librarians have historically been in the forefront of resisting Nazis and other enemies of the truth:
https://www.good.is/articles/rogue-librarians-save-history-and-the-truth
Follow the Libraries Resist account on Twitter:
@LibrariesResist
Read about ways to help libraries:
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/get-involved
https://mastersreview.com/8-ways-to-support-your-local-library/
https://www.bustle.com/p/7-ways-you-can-support-your-local-library-47363
One Thing You Can Do 