We here at Attorney.org understand the importance of libraries as an essential community resource. As part of our “Save A Library” campaign we are highlighting libraries from across the country in an effort to increase awareness about the current state of libraries across the country. Ultimately, we hope that you, our readers, will choose to take a pro-active approach towards improving the state of education in our country by contacting a library and contributing to their fund. Attorney.org is a not-for-profit website and will not accept any donations or serve as a broker in the process. We ask that all charitable contributions are made directly to the individual library or district.

Why are we doing this?

The bottom line is that America’s libraries, and the people who staff them, is a group forgotten amidst government bailouts of too-big-to-fail banks and institutions.

Sure, the burden of educational standards and funding rests largely on the respective state’s shoulders, but with state’s operating in the red, the lack of federal oversight on the issue is a glaring mishap. Just when people need them the most, libraries are first on the list for budget and staff cuts.

According to the American Library Association, “Library use increases dramatically as economy sags; funding declines.”

As the economy plummeted in 2008, people began looking for cost-effective resources during the time of crisis. As people slashed subscriptions to internet access in an effort to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, they flocked to libraries for free internet access, a working printer and computer. However, as funding faltered, libraries have not been able to grow to meet public demands. In academic library centers and public libraries alike, reduced hours/under staffing to minimize overhead and stifled innovation due to inadequate funding is a recurring scene across the country.

In a 2009 State of America’s Libraries report by the American Library Association, they found that:

1. Children are among the heaviest users of public-library resources. Children’ s materials accounted for 35 percent of all circulation transactions, and attendance at library-based children’ s programs was 57.8 million.

2. Individual visits to school library media centers increased significantly at the schools that responded to both the 2007 and 2008 surveys: up 22.7 percent for the 50th percentile, up 12.5 percent for the 75th percentile, and up almost 25 percent for the 95th percentile. There were no major year-to-year differences in the responses with regard to the other variables.

3. More than 68% of Americans had a library card in 2009. This is the most ever since the ALA began compiling data in 1990.

4. In 2009, Americans visited their libraries nearly 1.4 billion times and checked out more than 2 billion items in 2009. This is an increase of more than 10 percent in both checked-out items and visits, compared to data from the previous economic hurdle in 2001.

5. Public funding did not keep up with use in 2009. Forty-one states (82%) reported declining state funding for U.S. public libraries in 2009. Eight of these states anticipate further reductions in the current year.

6. The southeastern section of the country has been the hardest hit, with declines as large as 30 percent in South Carolina and 23.4 in Florida when comparing 2008 and 2009. This comes despite an average inflation rate of 2-3% in the past few years.

7. Libraries continue to report that job-related activities are a priority use of their computers and Internet services.

Today, the Internet has largely taken over the duty of archiving information and records, which were the duties of the earliest libraries, but today’s libraries are far more than that. Today’s libraries are a center for thinking minds to work, professionals to seek job training and placement, and a leading resource for youth programs. Libraries have persisted as an invaluable common area for generations, let’s not sit by idly while they disappear.