Finding these two dimes taped to a scrap of paper among this evening's book drop retrieval prompted this rumination about communication. From the library's view point, two dimes on a slip of paper lack one key element -- who left them? The coins and paper are only part of the intended message.
I'm afraid my attempts to communicate the value of public library service to our community are something like those two coins. What else needed to be present to make the communication complete?
Free public libraries are American inventions. Other democratic societies have found them to be vital parts of the public fabric. Public libraries best serve those who have initiative, curiosity, and an urge for self-betterment.
The best days in my library career have been those when things clicked -- when local history information enabled long disconnected family members to re-connect -- when information gathered at the library made the difference that enabled a business dream to be realized -- or something more tangible like a comment from many decades ago when a library user beamed, "this tax form you supplied will save me $400.00 on this year's return."
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