Axios - Public libraries have morphed into all-purpose community centers amid soaring demand for social services. Libraries are enjoying a renaissance in usage. They're also battling book bans and bearing the brunt of a host of societal issues — from caring for unhoused people and migrants to distributing COVID tests and Narcan for drug overdoses. The result is frazzled staff and budgets spread thin from competing needs. Librarians, while still helping kids with their homework, are helping migrants apply for asylum, and jobless people write resumes. Libraries are offering expungement clinics to help people erase their rap sheets, and "digital navigators" to help boost patrons' computer skills. Onsite social workers are assisting people with mental illnesses. They're becoming cooling centers and climate resilience hubs. "Libraries have never been more important than they are in 2024," says Patrick Losinski, CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, Ohio.
Librarians are fending off physical and verbal assaults from angry customers — some of whom blame these frontline workers for the content of books they'd like banned. And they're grappling with everything from the high cost of e-books to the need for free outdoor Wi-Fi so people without broadband can have off-hours access. Read on.
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