Library

Written By: Deanna

There is no doubt I love saving money. Don't you?

I know for a lot of people, it's important. I know for some people, they need to. Some people live paycheck to paycheck. Others have debt that needs to be paid off, others are scared of having to struggle. Well, today I want to talk about something like that, in an odd way, I've kind of become passionate about.

At the end of April, the Newfoundland and Labrador Library board announced that they would be closing 54 library branches in the next two years after a $1 million cut to their annual budget. These closures will impact 64 workers who will lose their jobs. These workers are mostly women living in rural areas.

Since reading that post, I've read a dozen more. I keep on reading them. A lot of them are political. Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about that! No, I wanted to approach this from another angle.
Yes, it sucks that people will lose their jobs, and it sucks that people are looking to their library for the internet, information, etc, may lose out - but let's look at this from the point of view, saving money.

My library saves me over $7000 a year.
No, I'm not making that number up. I've done the math a couple of times now. Libraries have so many benefits, and so many ways to save money. I'm going to touch on some of them right now.

Child Care: Most libraries offer after school activities or crafts during the day for those who aren't old enough to be in school yet. Not being a parent, I have to admit this isn't something I know much about, but I've helped out at several of these crafts/activities. Everyone gets to a point where they need a little help, or a small break. Libraries offer that for free.

Education: I was homeschooled my entire life, and a major resource I used for that was my library. I studied for my GED and got an above average score on it - and I have to credit the majority of that to my library, because I didn't take any courses or classes on the stuff. I used the internet and my library.

A Chance for A Raise: So, my library helped me get my GED, right? But since getting that and starting work, my library has also given me a chance to improve my craft dozens of times, with dozens of books and even workshops - which in turn has given me a chance to seek raises and earn more.

Nights Out: My local library has nights out that are free, and some that cost a small price (because they have to do lots of fundraising in order to stay open as much as they are), so there are a couple of options here. We've had board game nights, wine tastings, a chocolate buffet, bingo... the list goes on and on!

It's Not Just About Books: Can we stop thinking that libraries are just for books? I mean, yea there are books there. But, there are also DVD's, TV seasons, CD's, E-books, board games, instruments - seriously, you never know what you can check out!