Good morning to everyone except the woman on Facebook who told me I am living in the armpit of Howard County.
*****
It’s another morning where events playing out on the national stage are devastating. Two thoughts are fighting for dominance.
1. I want to acknowledging the evil. I know that how we - - as individuals and as a nation - - reckon with the times we are living in is more important than anything I could write about.
2. Just keep swimming.
*****
On Tuesday I was treated to what I might describe as a grown-up field trip.
Image from Montgomery County Library website
This is the Wheaton Library in Montgomery County. It’s also known as the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center.
This brightly colored building houses the library, and the Friends of the Library bookstore. (Hint: we came for the bookstore.) It also houses a gymnasium, a game room, a full service cafe with seating area, a walking track, a fitness center, and multiple study rooms.*
My friends and I all found bargains at the bookstore, which supports library programs in Montgomery County through the sale of donated books, CD’s and DVD’s.
In 2023 when we were going through the first waves of discussion about a new Downtown Library, I wrote about the concept of what is a library versus what is a community center.
What is a Community Center?, Village Green/Town², August 12, 2023
My visit to Wheaton brought me in direct contact with a deliberately created library/recreation center hybrid. It was fascinating. Not only was it quite busy on a Tuesday in the early afternoon, I saw far more diversity than I see in Columbia/HoCo on a regular basis. To be clear, I am not talking solely about racial/ethnic diversity, but also diversity in age and in abled and disabled patrons. (And, very likely, diversity in income.)
It reminded me of what could be in our community if we united to support it. Unfortunately, it also reminded me of the loud and derogatory voices in my own community who shrink from the very diversity that I was thrilled to see.
A few days ago, possibly because I was feeling low, I clicked on the following video:
Why is Finland So Happy? CBS Saturday Morning, 7 minutes, 35 seconds
In case you don’t have seven minutes, I’ll give you a quick rundown.
1. Even the Finnish were surprised they rated so high in the United Nations World Happiness Report.
2. Their high score is rooted in quality of life investments that are high priorities there.
Here’s the biggie: the first of these quality of life investments that they visit in the video: a library. It’s about two minutes in if you’d like to see what that library is like.
The investments that the Finnish people support through taxes benefit everyone, thus removing barriers to anyone who is not affluent. Clearly this opens up an improvement in quality of life. But wait - - that’s not all. In removing obstacles they are also unlocking the potential of people who would otherwise be neglected and ignored in a system predicated on affluence as the key to admission. The flowering of that potential benefits everyone.
In 2023 I asked “What is a community center?” Today I feel more driven to ask “What is a community?” What does a community support? Who does a community accept and validate? How does a community become/continue/assert an environment that is a healthy, positive, and fruitful place?
One important thing about healthy communities: they foster the strength to resist totalitarian harm and oppression.
*For those of us who care about such things: they have very clean bathrooms in excellent condition. And they see a lot of use, if my visit to the facilities is any indication.
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