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Resolve to Support your Library in 2010

Thursday, December 31st, 2009 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public | Comments Off on Resolve to Support your Library in 2010


Tomorrow is a new year. Some would even say a new decade (though we know that technically that’s not until 2011). Either way, it’s a time of year when people get introspective and think about how they can work to improve their lives and the world around them.

Maybe your resolutions this year involve getting and staying fit, reconnecting with friends, furthering your education, or getting rid of some bad habits. Those are all admirable things, to be sure, but I’ve got another resolution you should add to your list.

In 2010, make a resolution to support your local library. Not sure what supporting your library means or how you can do it? Read on for a few tips.

Step 1 – Find out who your local library is and where they’re located

Okay, so maybe this one is a no-brainer. After all, if you don’t know who your library is, or where they are, that makes it tough to support them in any real fashion. There are a lot of ways to souse out your local library. One that I like for being pretty universal is the National Center for Education Statistics “Search for Public Libraries” page, located at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/librarysearch/.

You can search by name, or by city and state, but the easiest method is probably to enter the zip code or your home or work, and search within a mile radius (I recommend starting with 10 miles and then expanding outward if you don’t get any results). Chances are there is a library closer than you think.

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