They’ll Leave a Light on For You

Do you believe in democracy? I mean, really believe? I’m not just talking about saying the pledge of allegiance or decorating with red, white, and blue on the Fourth of July. If the hardcore values of a democratic society are precious to you and if you are finding current events alarming, I have a suggestion for you.

Get a library card. It’s free, and it gives you access to books, music, movies, magazines and newspapers and much, much more. Take a look at this brief article:

5 Reasons Everyone Should Have a Library Card, Lindsey Simon, I Love Libraries

But how does that support democracy?

Supporting access to information for all

Libraries are among our country’s most democratic institutions, promoting free and open access to information for everyone. Registering for a library card is one of the easiest ways to support this mission, since libraries use their sign-up stats to prove their value to local policymakers and advocate for much-needed funding. When you sign up for a library card, you’re helping demonstrate that today’s libraries are more important than ever.

So: get a library card. Make sure your kids have them, your grandkids, your spouse. Then make library visits a regular part of your life. If you can’t always make it into the physical library space, check out the website. There’s a ton of online opportunities including downloadable materials, plus online workshops and tutorials. If you want to stay up-to-date about what’s happening at your library and learn more about how to benefit from all that’s on offer, sign up to receive the weekly library newsletter. It’s called HiLights and comes out on Tuesdays.

A certain area newspaper carried the words “Democracy Dies in Darkness” on its masthead which felt inspiring right up until they showed with their own actions exactly how Democracy does die in darkness. By contrast, when it comes to democracy, libraries are the embodiment of that old Motel 6 slogan, “We’ll leave a light on for you.”

Taking advantage of that light is an effective way to push back on the darkness. It’s one of the simplest participatory ways to defend democracy that you have available to you right now. Plus, it’s a lot easier to talk to friends and coworkers about fun and interesting things going on at the library than trying to get them to turn out to protest, donate to causes, or go to your church, for instance.

The Howard County Library System is celebrating its 85th birthday this year and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate them and democracy than to help them light some candles rather than cursing the darkness.

Image from Howard County Library social media

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