March 16, 2023 — Have you seen these little green signs as you enter a town that point you to the library? Some just say library and have an arrow. Some have a person with a book or just a book. They are pointing you in the right direction.
I love those signs because they lead you to the more than 350 public libraries across the state that provide you, your family, and your community high-quality information resources and services. These signs lead you to librarians who are highly respected and trusted leaders in your community. It is amazing that libraries directly impact the life of every Kansan even if you never walk into a library.
–Education – Getting children ready to learn in school, teaching kids the joy of free reading, research for school papers, preparing them for college with good research skills, promoting lifelong learning for all.
–Employment and Entrepreneurship – It’s not just access to a computer at the library, that computer with the help of library staff can be a way to do a job search, apply for a job, update a resume, take a class that will improve your skills, create a business plan for your side hustle, then the brochure or sign, the website for orders. It goes on and on.
–Engagement with your community — history and culture – Everyone loves the traditions that take place in their town. Parades, festivals, holiday gatherings – things that bring us together. Those often take place at the library, or the library is highly involved.
You know how important libraries are to Kansas. But not everybody knows it. We need to spread the word and speak up for libraries. To friends, neighbors, decision makers. That means visiting libraries, volunteering, donate, and voting for libraries.
Kansas has a library system that is highly efficient and high quality. It is a very smart system developed in the 1960s that promotes your library being the center of your community and we should not change that.
Think of “I Love My Kansas Library” as a little green sign – reminding you that in every great community across the state there is a library in the center of the town that is there to help you get the information you need.