Libraries can carry everything from books to magazines to audiobooks, and even the latest DVD releases, everything that a book lover could want —at least for a short time, before we have to return them so that others library card holders can enjoy them for free. However, libraries can provide more than just supplying them with these leisurely – as well as educational – materials.
While libraries are considered safe havens for avid readers everywhere, especially for those without enough money to buy the books they want to read at bookstores, they can also be literal safe havens from life-threatening situations.
And aside from protection against natural disasters of the world like earthquakes and hurricanes, as well as lock-downs for shooters and bomb threats, according to The Globe and Mail, libraries can also provide assistance for people looking for a job or living with depression, and even bring people together by having them get better acquainted with others from the community – guiding people in the right direction with the right mindset, as well as surrounding themselves with familiar faces to help them along the way.
With these proactive efforts to support those who need help, libraries have become more essential to their communities than people generally believe. They not only supply you with knowledge in their books; they supply you with the means to survive – whether if it is on a personal, professional, local, or much grander scale.
For example, according to BookRiot, after Hurricane Matthew hit a community in North Carolina, people sought out the library for essential needs, such as charging their electronics when their homes had no power, filling out the library’s insurance and disaster relief forms, and utilizing the library’s computer labs and wifi. And that’s not all: the library also used bookmobiles and pop-up libraries on a temporary basis to meet the needs of the community, whether bookish or strictly for safety, in the hurricane’s aftermath.
“After a disaster, the library can provide a quiet place or a place to help you through a tumultuous time in your life,” said Jody Risacher, director of Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, the very organization responsible for all that the library provided for its community during this “tumultuous time.”
So, don’t think that libraries are just there to supply us with bookish needs and comfort for those who need a quiet place to read and study, away from the loud, outside world – though these needs are definitely important; they are there for everyone who needs help, no matter how little or dire the needs are in a time of crisis.
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