When I think back about some of my most vivid memories from childhood, I think about libraries.
I remember learning about the Dewey Decimal System and exploring the card catalog at the Alexander Elementary School library, visiting a few times a month and browsing for books about baseball, fantasy and mythology. I also remember taking a field trip from Alexander all the way to the Hamilton Free Public Library, where we all got our first library cards.
I must have been wearing something New York Yankees-related, because a very sweet, very helpful children’s librarian directed me right to the sports section, where I picked up a copy of Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man, an illustrated biography of the Iron Horse by David A. Adler and Terry Widener. I think, subconsciously, it was the intuitive nature of that librarian (and the many others at the Hamilton Library) that made me fall in love with that old building.
So many summers were spent walking through the stacks in the children’s room, and then graduating to the upstairs fiction section when I outgrew kids’ and middle grade books. The year I discovered The Lord of the Rings, I wanted to expand my Tolkien horizons beyond Middle-earth, and thanks to the library, I picked up his telling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I got really into Stephen King in eighth grade, and I pretty much lived at the library that summer. I would bolt right up to his shelf every time I visited. The library still has the same copy of It that I checked out that summer, and revisiting it still gives me the willies—I loved (and still do love) that book, but it scared the hell out of me then.
When we lost power after Hurricane Sandy, I went to the library and sat on the floor with my laptop so I could work (and check out a book, too). It’s just always been a source of safety and comfort for me, and part of that has to do with the fact that it’s gone almost entirely unchanged since my first-ever visit probably 20 years ago.
Part of me, though, wishes it could get a little update. Libraries are community hubs, and the Hamilton Library is no different. It’s home to a book club for adults, children’s groups (like weekly storytimes) and other events, like a Saint Patrick’s Day presentation of Irish music by musician and storyteller Charlie Zahm set for March 12. Patrons can visit the library for everything from internet access and tax assistance to museum passes and meeting spaces. As it says on the library’s website, “We take our role as a central meeting place in the township quite seriously.”
I just wish the township took it seriously, too. The library’s most recent budget is available on its website, and it seems to be stretched pretty thin. Almost 80 percent of the $3.4 million receives goes toward personnel expenses alone. There’s not a ton left over for things like capital improvements, technology upgrades, collection development and more, all of which any library could use.
The Hamilton Library is a community gathering space. It’s a place for residents to practice intellectual freedom, to expand their horizons, to access free services that they may not have been able to access otherwise. It encourages lifelong learning and a commitment to universal access. It’s an invaluable community service. Hamilton is a massive township, and the library manages to serve every part of it.
Obviously, budgets are complex, but it would be great to see the township (or corporations/local businesses looking to make a donation) to invest a little more into a facility that has given so much to its residents, even if that investment means a little bump in taxes. We need to think about where our priorities lie.
The Hamilton Library is a 47-year-old building. It’s been decades since its last renovation. And yet, it still manages to serve at the center of the Hamilton community—if you walk into the library at any time during its open hours, it’s likely to be busy. I think that’s a testament to its value to us as residents.
Libraries all over the country are suffering and even closing their doors due to budgetary demands and constraints. Others, though, are thriving due to roomier budgets, grants, donations and other community contributions.
The Hamilton library is just as important as any other government service. It has been a community hub for nearly 50 years. It’s up to us to make sure that continues into the next 50 and beyond.
She Said,
