I think of the library as the great equalizer. So many people walk through our doors and if all things go to plan, everything that we offer is free. So having a lot of wealth doesn’t give someone an immediate advantage. I love that.

Of course, wealthy people aren’t used to not receiving special treatment. Here are some things that people have said to me on one OR MORE occasions while working in a library:

“Do you know who I am?”

“That rule shouldn’t apply to the right kind of people.”

“My taxes pay for your salary.”

I’ve been a librarian long enough that entitled people no longer rattle me. Usually I try to answer their questions at face value. “Actually, I don’t think we’ve met!” Or to their inane statements, I reply with my own questions. Such as, “Can you describe to me what the right kind of people means?” or “Did you drive here on a road today? Do your kids play in a city park? Great, we can agree that our taxes pay for a lot of things.”

(Our funding comes from property taxes so unless you own property in this county, your taxes don’t pay for my salary, aCtUaLlY.)

Mostly, the things that upset people in a library are noise, children, and people they’re perceiving to be struggling financially. If a librarian hasn’t told you lately that libraries aren’t silent anymore, please allow me to be the librarian that informs you that model is terribly out of date. Most public libraries these days subscribe to the model of being a community gathering space, or a third space. Which means while we loan books, we also provide entertaining and educational programs and sometimes those programs make noise. (Tuesday, we had a drum circle here. So. That was loud.)

Also, if no one has reminded you lately that children are, in fact, human people and not possessions of an adult, I’m here to do that too! Children are people. Sure, they’re new people who are learning how to exsist appropriately in society, but the great news is that the public library is, like, the perfect spot for them to do that. Sometimes they’re gonna be loud about it. It’s part of the process.

And finally, people experiencing homelessness or poverty deserve a warm, dry place to exist and access resources. That’s it. No more discussion on that.

On a given day, I deal with children of all ages, adults with a variety of developmental challenges, new parents, grandparents, poor people, and rich people. I have to say, that without a single doubt, the most contentious person I help is a white person over the age of 50 who is wealthy. They are impatient. They are judgemental. They are rude.

But you know what? I’m going to help them get their bookclub book or their tax forms or whatever. And I’m going to help the toddler find a motorcycle book. I’m going to help the old guy with the wet cough find a copy of the Talmud. I’m going to let the middle schoolers use a study room to play Roblox in. I’m going to check out forty picture books to a mom who forgot her library card and only has an ID. I’m going to let the garden club hang a copy of their flyer on the community board.

That’s the library kids. It’s not just for you, but it’s absolutely full-throttle for you, you get me?

If you haven’t been to the library in a while, I think you should stop by your local one. It’s national library week and libraries and librarians are facing and unprecedented level of book challenges and attempts to ban books. As an author and librarian, that hits me twice as hard. The only way forward as a country, a society, and a species is education and reading is a fundamental building block of that. So go to the library. Check out a book. Join a book club. Attend the drum circle.

Make some noise for libraries.