What Is A Library, Anyway?

Books, community resources, computers, and Librarians may be the first few words that come to mind when asked, "What is a library?" For many members of the community, the Santa Cruz Public Libraries are so much more, as Cindy Jackson states, "communities are made and transformed" in these public libraries.

"What is a library, anyway? For me it was one of the first destinations I could walk to without supervision, show my own library card and come home with entertainment in the form of a stack of books.

As a young parent it was a place to make friends with other parents while a librarian read stories to our toddlers. As an adult it was a place to find someone who could help me find Investors Daily when you searched for the actual paper copies and who now shows me how to download a book on my phone. Sounds like a big book warehouse with a reference desk but it is not.

It is much more because of the connections that take place between toddlers and books, parents with new kids, book lovers in book groups and neighbors with neighbors. And it is in those connections that communities are made and transformed……….thanks to our public libraries."