On Monday, November 8, 2010, the Chicago-based Urban Libraries Council (ULC) released the report Partners for the Future: Public Libraries and Local Governments Creating Sustainable Communities. The 33-page report explicates how public libraries can work with municipal and county governments to make their communities more economically prosperous, environmentally sustainable, and socially equitable.
The concept of sustainability is rooted in preservation of the natural environment, but has grown to encompass others things as well. The report quotes a number of statements by government agencies and advocacy groups on sustainability to explain what the term means in governmental terms. The best may be from the Vermont-based Institute for Sustainable Communities. “A sustainable community is one that is economically, environmentally, and socially healthy and resilient. The success of a sustainable community depends on active, organized and informed citizens; inspiring, effective, and responsive leadership; and responsible, caring, and healthy institutions, services, and businesses.”
The research for the report included interviews of library directors and other local government officials across the United States of America and Canada. Rashad Young, City Manager of Greensboro, North Carolina, is one of the many municipal government officials quoted in the report. He states, “In Greensboro, I have become acutely aware of what the library means to the community and how it contributes to improving the quality of life here. I regularly look to the library on a variety of programs, particularly around small business services and job connectivity/job searching for local residents.”
According to a ULC press release, the report “positions ULC member libraries as local anchors for economic, environmental and equitable development in North America.” There are eight categories of initiatives taken by public libraries in cooperation with other local (municipal and county) government bodies cited in the report.
First, there are literacy programs, which are important for a community to have a literate workforce. The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County trained librarians in “early childhood development skills” and the engagement of parents and other caregivers in programs for young readers. It also combined the promotion of literacy with the promotion of financial literacy with the program “Baby Brilliant Goes to College,” which encourages parents to save money for the future higher education needs of their very young children. With the support of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, the mayors of 7 New Jersey cities established book clubs for children under 5 that are personally led by the mayors. Thanks in part to financial support from Aflac, the number of participants in the Chattachoochee Valley Libraries’ summer reading program has increased from 2,100 schoolchildren in 2001 to 25,000 schoolchildren in 2010.
Second, libraries are connecting unemployed or underemployed residents with employment opportunities and skill development programs. A survey of Wichita Public Library computer users revealed that 50% of them use the computers to work on their resumes, search for job openings via the internet, and apply for jobs via the internet. In one month alone, 10% of users throughout the Wichita Public Library system and 18% of users at one branch library used library computers to apply for unemployment benefits. Washington State’s Pierce County Library has developed a comprehensive program, “Tools for Tough Economic Times.” The Brooklyn Public Library’s program “Today’s Teens, Tomorrow’s Techies” provides 8-day courses for 120 youths who then become technology volunteers in library branches.
Third, libraries are supporting small local businesses. On an annual basis, the Johnson County Library in Kansas holds “GovFest for Entrepreneurs” to help local small business owners connect with government and non-profit services. The Hamilton Public Library in Ontario, Canada is collaborating with the Hamilton Farmers’ Market to renovate the Central Library and Hamilton Farmers’ Market, which will benefit the downtown as a whole(http://www.hamilton.ca/ProjectsInitiatives/MarketandCentralLibraryRenos/).
Fourth, whether libraries are divisions of municipal (or county) governments or operated by independent library boards, library building construction is being used to inspire downtown and neighborhood real estate development. Examples include Wichita, Kansas, where a new public library is a key part of “downtown revitalization plans,” and University Place, Washington, where a branch of the Pierce County Library is an anchor of the “town center development plan.” The District of Columbia Public Library is building 12 branch libraries in neighborhoods.
Fifth, library buildings are being used to demonstrate environmentally friendly (so-called “green”) technologies to reduce energy consumption in public buildings. The Fayettville Public Library in Fayettville, Arkansas is part of a city government-public library-university program to test solar energy. Thanks to a grant from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), 60 experimental solar panels were designed for the library and installed on its roof, which incidentally helped a small company from the area, Arkansas Power Electronics International.
Sixth, libraries are helping educate the public about individual environmental responsibility. The San Francisco Public Library has the Green Stacks outreach program to alter residents to local priorities. In Virginia, the Arlington Public Library had a speakers’ series attended by the county board chair that featured prominent authors. The Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch of the Greensboro Public Library sits in a 98-acre park and provides hands-on programs on gardening and conservation.
Seventh, libraries are providing resources for vulnerable people (the freshly unemployed, immigrants, and “at-risk youth”). The Public Library of Yougnstown and Mahoning County works closely with the Ohio One Stop workforce development center, Consumer Credit Counseling, and Catholic Charities. Many libraries offer language and citizenship classes for immigrants. The Hamilton Public Library even employs settlement workers to help acculturate immigrants. The Calgary Public Library’s “It’s a Crime not to Read” program “addresses the connection between illiteracy and crime.” [Children in poor neighborhoods where illiteracy or low-level literacy are commonplace as are negative attitudes towards the police start out at a disadvantage.] The program was developed in collaboration with the Calgary Police Service, the Board of Education, the Catholic School, District, and Rotary Clubs.
Eighth, libraries are meeting their community’s immediate needs “while building long-term economic stability.” Part of that involves helping people face the future with hope, if not confidence, during these dark economic times. Felton Thomas, Jr., Library Director of the Cleveland Public Library, states “Giving our public a sense that there are better days ahead is a big part of our sustainability mission. I want people to come to the library to find hope.”
Andrew Watterson, Chief of Sustainability at the City of Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability, is quoted as saying, “The public library is a safe zone. It is apolitical, has always been there, and always will be there. That’s an incredible resource to any local leader.”
Don Marr, Chief of Staff of Fayettville, Arkansas, is quoted as saying “Local governments are missing an incredibly valuable resource if they aren’t working directly and regularly with the public library regardless of the official structure.” In Fayettville, the public library is independent of the city government (the City of Fayettville), but the mayor appoints members of the board of trustees, 51% of the library’s operating budget comes from the city, and the library’s executive director participates in the mayor’s weekly staff meetings.
It is good for public libraries to encourage municipal and county leaders to develop sustainability goals for their regions. Chicago has been at the forefront of such planning since Daniel Burnham, Sr. and Edward H. Bennett wrote the Plan of Chicago.
Most people are not accustomed to thinking in these terms, but countries and empires come and go while cities endure. When we look at the history of the great cities of the Eurasian-African landmass, quite a number of them, such as Shenyang, Nanjing, Mumbai, Alexandria, Athens, Rome, Paris, and London, are thousands of years old and have outlasted multiple successive imperial and national regimes of which they were formerly part.
Therefore, it is entirely conceivable North American cities and towns could be inhabited long after the U. S. and Canada go the way of the Holy Roman Empire. Several American cities predate the United States, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston. New York City had already existed under three imperial and federal regimes (Dutch, English, and American). Similarly, New Orleans has been under the flags of the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Spain, the First French Empire, and the U.S. The oldest American city, St. Augustine, Florida, is more than 200 years older than the U.S. Responsible stewardship of local natural, cultural and financial resources by the current leaders of a city may help make the difference between that city being inhabited a thousand years from now, and that city lying in ruins.
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