To the Editor:

Allow me to modify a quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “How does the public library benefit my community, let me count the ways.”

Public libraries assist local communities in supporting and encouraging the democratic nature of a society by providing citizens with accessibility to information regardless of race, income, class, age, or gender.

Equal information access for all is a primary component of the democratic process and one of the foundations of our nation.

Public libraries support and promote literacy in their respective communities, initiating a ripple effect of positive impacts on an individual’s education success, ability to apply for a job, obtain a better job, and increase personal income. Investment in public libraries yields a high return to the educational health of students.

There have been many studies from around the world showing that public library use is a positive factor in the attainment of high reading and comprehension levels.

Not only are public libraries supporting the community’s children and students in their acquisition of educational skills but libraries also support lifelong learning for everyone in the community.

Public libraries meet the needs of individuals to become better informed for their personal decision making and meet the needs of individuals wanting to upgrade their work and life skills.

The free virtual door to today’s “information highway” that a public library provides is an invaluable benefit and potentially offers a dramatic economic benefit for individual patrons, the business community, and the local community as a whole.

Libraries also serve the public by providing information about many useful and important topics: demographic, geographic, and real estate information; information about job skills, resumes, and the interview process; consumer information, travel information, federal and state government information, information about educational institutions and health and legal information.

Libraries assist patrons in meeting their civic duty by offering meeting space for civic organizations, assisting in voter registration, and making tax forms available.

Patrons obtain information from libraries to make them more productive on their jobs, supply them with job related training in the area of computer skills and assist them in finding employment. The library is as an asset to the community and is a source of community pride.

Furthermore, the library supports and contributes to the prosperity of the local community.

The public library truly does have something for everyone in the community.

Dave Zilka

Rostraver Township

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