In their founding days, libraries occupied a more rarified culture than they do today. In the 18^th century, Ben Franklin’s selective subscription libraries were for those who could pay their way. Toward the end of that century, libraries loosened up and eventually arrived at today’s model of being free and open. Andrew Carnegie was a driving force in bringing and building public libraries to scale across America in the early 20^th century. Today’s Columbus OH’s formidable main library announces boldly, carved into granite over its main doors: OPEN TO ALL.

Libraries have continued to act on that belief and declaration, responding to the many challenges of the past centuries: economic booms and busts, swinging demographics, wars and peace, natural and manmade disasters, inequities and adjustments. All the while they have remained open, operating with balance and fortitude and the trust of their patrons.

Recently, libraries have been pushing back against book bans and challenges, standing up for everyone’s access to ALL books. They invest in hardware, software, and training in today’s technology, especially to strive for digital equity for the underserved.

They bring the library to the people who can’t bring themselves to the library.  Sometimes that is through the national collections and services for the blind, including free mailed large-print and books in braille and audiobooks. Sometimes it is by outreach to kids who can’t make it to a faraway public library, through bookmobiles, and  book deliveries to schools and rural areas.

Libraries remove obstacles to entry and use, by eliminating fines for those who need libraries most. A program like in Dayton’s Reading Railroad  draws in the underrepresented cohort of Black men into the library community, creating a waterfall effect of libraries as a welcome and comfortable place for all people.

Architectural updates from classic but formal and often off-putting Carnegie style buildings to the open sidewalk window fronts catch the eyes of passersby and signal safety and welcome.

We all know and recognize a community’s first responders; the policemen, firemen, and EMTs. In times of crisis, public libraries have stepped into the role of second responders.

In Ferguson MO, the public library stayed open when the schools were closed after the riots of 2014, to offer the kids a safe place and even classes taught by volunteers. After Hurricane Harvey in Houston TX on 2017, while branches were closed from damage, the main library remained up and running, for emergency services, help with FEMA claims, and children’s programs. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, some libraries in New Jersey became places of refuge.

In the Queens Library’s Far Rockaway NY branch, after that hurricane the librarians continued story hours in the outdoor parking lot “to give them a sense of normalcy,” says Christian Zabriskie, who was a Queens librarian then. “Story time at the end of the world” he called it.

In Orlando, after the nightclub shootings of 2016, the library hosted an art gallery for those who made art as a way to express and share their reactions. After the devastating Thomas Fire and flooding of 2017, the Santa Barbara CA Public Library invited the public to share their stories and lessons, to help heal and prepare for the future. There are countless examples of libraries stepping in as fast as they can and ahead of others.

And then there’s covid. The libraries’ standup response was vast. Determined to keep book lending going, some libraries tried an early, but quickly abandoned idea, That was to microwave or bake books to kill the “germs”. In a more conventional effort, libraries kept their internet on, reaching parking lots for schoolkids and workers. Some ran extension cords out their windows to ensure power. They supplied grab-and-go lunches for kids. Many libraries used the 3-D printers from their makerspaces to produce PPEs, masks, and shields.

In the long months of Covid-related shutdowns, many libraries ramped up their online presence to those housebound. They produced lists of resources for children’s activities; plans for improving adult job skills and dealing with job loss; hobby ideas; reading lists; ways to sleep better, meditate, and stay calm; ways to exercise; and ideas for virtual, social interaction.

Libraries became true lifelines for needy people and emergency operations during the pandemic and its aftermath. In Burlington VT, Erie PA, and elsewhere, librarians spent hours on the phone with elderly patrons, who had always counted on the library for social connections and with city or county offices that needed extra resources to research the flood of questions from citizens. In Anchorage, the library, with its internet and extra space, became an emergency operations center for the city.

Always a refuge and safe place for the homeless, during the Covid lockdowns, the Spokane WA library became an actual temporary homeless shelter. Always a trusted place, libraries became the go-to public-service source, posting timely, accurate, curated information on city services, public advisories, health directives, tax and unemployment issues, and of course, COVID-19 information.

For efforts whether in times of urgency or not, libraries have been recognized and rewarded. Here are two examples. At a make or break moment for their library system, in the middle of economic challenges for their city and entire state, in 2014 Charleston WV voted to tax themselves to help their libraries. The lights stayed on and the library even grew and expanded in spectacular fashion in later years. After the Palisades Fires of 2025 destroyed the Palisades branch of the Los Angeles CA public library, the library foundation stepped up to fill in recovery funds where FEMA left off.

Public libraries have grown well beyond their original mission of lending books to suit the needs of communities. This is the way of libraries around the country. Here are some examples:

— Many libraries host makerspaces and “libraries of things” to lend, like snowshovels in winter, games, kitchen and industrial equipment. Some host extensive art collections , like in Winston-Salem NC and arts competitions, like in Greenville SC.

Libraries’ archives preserve the histories of towns; of the civil rights era in the Birmingham AL library with the holdings about Martin Luther King Jr.,  and the Lincoln Shrine in Redlands CA, a collection of Lincolniana that began with a family’s philanthropy. Civil War archives in Columbus MS provide research and lessons for high school students to bring the story of their town alive in public presentations as a bridge across today’s ongoing racial issues. Many libraries have local or regional history collections, and the ever-popular genealogy offerings.

There are casual draws to residents, like in-library coffee shops modeled in Brownsville TX . Or several libraries in Colorado, which offer free passes to parks or equipment and maps for hiking. Self-improvement programs abound, as in instructive seed-lending programs, citizenship classes and ESL classes in San Bernardino CA. Seemingly everywhere are classes in basic technology, job applications, interviewing skills, small business startups, movies to watch, author talks and fix-it demonstrations.

Libraries are opportunistic and creative about where they show up, beyond the classic Carnegie libraries or the modern, sidewalk-appeal libraries. Libraries appear in unusual places: summer floating libraries on the lakes in Minnesota and pop-up libraries on streets of Wichita KS, inside airports in Washington DC and Bend OR.

Libraries everywhere are great sources of help and advice: financial advice, health advice, mortgage and rental advice, and newly AI education and training for staff and customers alike. There are classes on fire hazards and high-end hobbies in Bend OR. And staff are trained in the use of Narcan.  In Pima County AZ, visiting nurses make regular visits to advise those who can’t afford medical care. And in smalltown Pennsylvania, a library can also be a place of healing for those who need solace.

Some 12 years ago, when we began reporting for Our Towns, some libraries showed an active resistance or at least a strong discomfort at being labeled community hubs or community centers. Now, it is a label of pride.

Libraries are always anticipating and planning, sharing their experiences with each other and creating models.

As book-banning efforts spread, libraries looked to the American Library Association for information, data, talking points and processes on how to meet the challenges.

As AI becomes prominent, ubiquitous and necessary, there are many opportunities for staff development, including guidelines, courses, and certifications. These are targeting both inside-library operations and serving their public.

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative offers entire wrapround mentoring, training, and certification for libraries at all levels where sustainability meets communities. We wrote about the progressive movement in San Diego County CA and its Lakeside Public Library.

Libraries have taken lessons from the pandemic work-arounds, and are using them to rebalance their programming. Often, for example, they learned that online and virtual offerings are much more accessible and valuable for their customers than in-person activities.

Other libraries are surveying and listening to their customers and assessing their habits, as libraries project future budgeting of their time and resources. Do library users want upgraded teen offerings? More yoga and tai chi? More streaming services or print newspapers and magazines. Do they prefer e-books or hard cover? Libraries continue drawing in their communities and acting in deference to their wants and needs.