Ryan Huffman - Computer Systems Director

Working at the library has changed the way I think about libraries as community pillar institutions. I never thought libraries were useless or unnecessary but I often failed to consider the idea that they could be useful to me. Being at a library five days a week and aiding in the library’s mission has certainly made it easier to see the possibilities but if I could offer that wisdom to others in a concise way, I would say “consider the library”.

As a young child, I would participate in the Summer Reading program at my local public library. Presented with the opportunity to earn prizes–the most memorable being free pizza–trips to the historic brick building that housed our town branch were welcome excursions. I don’t remember having that same enthusiasm when I grew too old to participate in the program and summer visits grew sparse. I guess I considered the library a pathway to free pizza.

The Scholastic Book Fair would come to the elementary school every year. The preceding excitement from some students may have been due to time spent out of class, but I think it promoted a passion for books in others. The fair had the latest and most popular releases but there was one problem: those books weren’t free. My wishlist always seemed to be bigger than my budget and while I was able to buy a couple items most years, figuring out which ones I wanted the most was difficult. I didn’t consider the library as a solution to the “if you can’t afford it, you can’t read it” problem.

As a teenager, music became an active interest and trips to the library increased but were primarily confined to the bins of CDs, flipping through row after row, trying to find the names I knew or a cover that looked interesting enough to take home. Before streaming music, it was difficult to (legally) listen to music unless it was on the radio or you could afford to buy it (the whole album before iTunes launched in 2001!). For a few years, I considered the library my music store.

After high school, I almost never went to a library. I lived in a different town for close to 7 years but never held a local library card. I find it strange that less than 2 months after moving to Adams County, I had signed up for an ACLS card. Something about the historic building with the grand pillars on Baltimore Street must have drawn me in. Unfortunately, I don’t think I stepped foot inside that building again until I was there for a job interview a few years later.

Even now that I am employed at the library, I sometimes forget to consider what lies on the two floors beneath my office. A question that comes up for some in the age of digital resources is “what do I need the library for when I have the internet?” and while I was guilty of quietly asking myself the same question at times, a recent presentation I attended helped shed some light on an answer. 

Libraries offer equity of access to the communities they serve. When I was young and unemployable on account of my rigorous elementary school schedule, money was a limiting factor in gaining access to the content I wanted. I could have tried to borrow things from others but if I took all the books that everyone I know owns and put them together, I still wouldn’t match the volume of the Gettysburg Library, let alone the other 5 branches and the thousands of titles available through Interlibrary Loan. 

In the field of technology, the gap between the “haves and have-nots” can feel more like a chasm. Computer prices can be prohibitive for some before taking into account the internet access required to utilize most services or the fees associated with a “subscription economy”. The cost is not only big up front but can be ongoing as well. The library offers access to a wealth of resources and information that are completely free both to those that need them and those that don’t need them but might want them.

I recognize that money and availability are not concerns for everyone so to highlight another benefit: the library is also eco-friendly–particularly apt with Earth Day on April 22nd. I’m guilty of being a generalist. I like picking up different hobbies and working on a variety of projects around the house and many are easier to enjoy with the right supplies. The number of specialized tools I have for spells of hanging tile, film photography, building a fence, calligraphy, wood carving, and many more is such that I could probably open a small general store. On top of that, I have books I probably won’t ever read again, movies that I no longer feel deeply connected to, and a collection of CDs that I don’t need after their content was transferred to my computer.. The raw materials used to create this assembly of uniquely-shaped dust collectors are hard to imagine. 

The new “Library of Things” collection features a wide range of games, puzzles, tools, instruments, crafting supplies and more. Whether you want to take up knitting for a single project, need to do a quick bicycle repair, want to take the family to play a round of disc golf for the weekend, or want to try the ukulele before investing in one, you can borrow the right supplies from the library without spending any money, consuming any additional resources, or taking up any more space in your house with something you might never use again. 

The library didn’t offer quite so many unique services when I was growing up but I lost touch with libraries over the years and didn’t know how much those services had adapted over time to keep up with the evolving needs of communities. I think I checked out my first ebook within the last year and while I still prefer physical books, I cannot deny the ease and convenience of them. I now consider the library a place of possibility and promise for everyone and I hope that others in the community do as well.