Rural libraries continue to boast strong local support at the polls but must adapt to remain relevant, writes one Kansas library director. A report from the Library Journal reveals last year "voters in communities of fewer than 10,000 people approved 85 percent of the library operating referenda that came up for a vote, as well as 55 percent of the building referenda," Marcel LaFlamme, library director of Independence Community College of Independence, Kan., reports for the Daily Yonder. "Meanwhile, rural communities like Seldovia, Alaska, (pop. 241) and Capitan, New Mexico, (pop. 1510) are operating municipal libraries staffed entirely by volunteers."
"The fact that rural communities across the country continue to support their libraries, even in these grim economic times, speaks to the esteem rural communities hold for these places," LaFlamme writes. But for rural libraries to maintain this type of loyalty they must adapt to become "platforms for the civic activism and engagement that are needed to revitalize rural America," she argues. LaFlamme outlines a five-step process for accomplishing that goal: creating public space, promoting information literacy, embracing open access, toeing the line on "free" and remembering it's about the people, not the stuff.
"There's no one way for rural libraries to fulfill their promise," LaFamme writes. "Some will consolidate services at the county or regional level, while others will continue to maintain a footprint on Main Street. Some libraries will actively position themselves as agents of social and economic development, while others will hew to a more traditional definition of library service. And that's a good thing. In fact, it is precisely this obstinate localism, this exuberant, country-fried messiness that makes rural America strong." (Read more)
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