II. C (1252/1000wds).
1. (300/250 wds)
For public libraries, Beginning Phase I, with the lamentable state of our public library system in many states, and in certain counties or neighborhoods even in wealthier states, there will be much work to do. the first stages will begin with reminding ourselves of how libraries helped build community in the past. Libraries have always been more than just information centers and lenders of books. They have also been, and continue to serve, as community safety nets, and as gathering places for community members from all walks of life. Education and advocacy around the need to increase support for libraries may immediately bring to mind one recent point of contention: voting. Libraries have often been used as polling places for local residents, as just one example of the role branch libraries play, in particular, in the community. Another possibly unexpected role libraries are increasingly playing in is as a safety net for people experiencing addictions, as librarians in some states are being trained to administer narcan, a prepackaged nasal spray used by first responders as a medication for reversing or preventing opioid overdoses. Many libraries in vulnerable neighborhoods are also hosting the rotation of social workers on an occasional basis as information providers and referrers for troubled members of the community. Libraries have always been community meeting places, and, as the former DC Central library, the Carnegie Library reminds us, often also the only places where residents of all races could meet without the onerous rules of racial segregation following them through the door (cite Stayed, p. 16). Today’s crying need for increased staffing, bathroom upgrades, and extended hours, just for starters, requires educating the non-library going public, while building up the patronage levels, and advocating for a far more robust library system, in the interest of all of society.
2. (274/250 wds)
Metrics and milestones for this work of educating and advocating increased support for public library systems, as well as connecting those systems with each other, and more closely to university library systems, should start at the local branch library level, unless a given community decides otherwise. Clearly librarians or former librarians, in particular, would be well placed to help in adjusting these metrics. A good start might be to have library restrooms cleaned every hour, and a plumber come in to do maintenance twice per week, or more as needed. So would increasing the number of book purchases for local library systems, especially in cities that have larger vulnerable populations, by 50% per year, and adding a similar percentage of additional staff, with a corresponding increase in book maintenance and capital budgets, within the first five years of the project’s start. Further, one free local financial law workshop per branch per week, along with an annual celebration event planned, perhaps at the main branch, to raise visibility and remind residents of their educational updating events. Clearly, connecting each of the InterLibrary Loan systems between cities around the US should be quite doable within the first five years, and finally, physical plant must not be forgotten. It may be ambitious, but not impossible, within the first 5 years of Phase I, to see one new branch library built in every community or city across the country. These milestones might be difficult to achieve in the start of a brand new project, but with the infrastructure support already promised to be “on the way” by President Biden, these milestones are absolutely doable, if we will it.
3. (294/250 wds)
Tools and activities for accomplishing those milestones, and the mid-phase goal, can be as simple as sharing a post over social media. One measure might be to reach 2000 ReTweets per day, over the first five years of Phase I, of a tweet related to public library users mentioning this project. One new daily ‘walk to our library’ group starting up per year in every city may be ambitious, but is also completely doable, within the first five years of beginning this project. Likewise, one tweet per month, in the first couple of years, by project volunteers in their communities to say that “I just asked for more library funding in my city, as part of #PublicDomainInfrastructure!” is entirely possible to meet. One article per year, in each city, with the handout attached, on how “I just offered a free debt law workshop at my local library!” sharing a link to all of the information from the workshop, is certainly doable, in all fifty states, by the end of the mid-way point in Phase I. Any careful volunteer, who pays attention to the details of local Statutes of Limitations, updated laws on debt-buyers and time-barred suits, for example, can give such a workshop, in a public library space, and obviously, listing current books available at that branch library, to encourage library patronage. Finally, a dozen tweets per year reminding us of how any volunteer or library patron has “just requested a book purchase,” for each library system, should be easily reachable as a milestone goal during the first five years of Phase I. These activities are easy, accessible, and should help to generate both interest and support for this part of our project, as it begins to pick up momentum in the start-up stages.
4. (364/250 wds)
Looking at the reasons for doing these activities, and more ideas are eagerly awaited, as communities find volunteers dedicated to moving this project forward over the next few generations, we hope to show how there are both practical and symbol reasons behind these activities. First, tweets, in particular, are very easy to produce, and practically everyone has access to Twitter, which can also be shared via link posts across other social media. The symbolic act of taking back a part of social media for good, by using it to spread a message of hope and ways to help, is also an important part of this choice of tool. Walks to the library are also a two for one sort of deal. Walking brings an immediate physical health benefit, as well as transportation to the library on one’s own two feet, and of course benefits the library via increased patronage, but also, walking has always been a potent symbol of getting to a better place. While writing articles with accompanying handouts may be a bit less easy, it is not so difficult as it may first appear. Many states, like CA and MD, have their entire current legal code online, with good and well-verified explanations by authorities with experience in finance law. Given the time to carefully investigate and explain these laws and look at a few current applications, any volunteer can write up a lesson, with sources, and speak at the library. Leaving the handouts for local residents to find more information is both a practical application of free continuously updated learning, and symbolic of another way that “help is on the way.” Offering these workshops at the library also both boosts library usage, and symbolizes ‘leaving now person behind’ in the community, as they are accessible to all members of the community. Finally, sharing social media postings about book purchase requests both supports authors as it supports libraries, and makes a symbolic request to leave no reader behind. We now turn to how a more generalized sort of free continuous learning can have an even greater impact on society, moving us forward in both this project, and also in the world at large.
Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story 