"Tell city leaders: No cuts to libraries. Next Tuesday, May 21, library leaders will testify at City Hall regarding the proposed $58.3 million budget cuts to NYC's public libraries." from New York Public library.
"You may already be aware that BPL (Brooklyn Public Library) was forced to reduce our service hours from seven to six days a week, as well as drastically trim our new book purchases due to a painful midyear city budget cut. Libraries across the city are currently facing millions more in potential cuts."
I was going to write about my plan to teach online English and something else to a group of Chinese kids, but I changed my mind when I saw these emails.
American society provides an excellent public library system. Wherever we moved in America, we always got in touch with the local library. It is like a small community service, which always reminds me of the one provided by churches in the Middle Ages.
While libraries today are built and maintained by the government to provide knowledge, churches are by their communities of believers to offer spiritual comfort and other communal support. Both contribute to the fabric of society. But churches play a much weaker role in contemporary society.
Modern societies like the U.S. prioritize individualism over collective well-being, with everyone taking care of himself, resulting in a full spectrum of social crisis, such as loneliness, trust issue, drug addictions, meaninglessness, depression and tribalism.
For a wholesome modern society, I see churches being as essential as libraries, especially in the advanced capitalist society. Both play crucial roles in fostering community and addressing societal challenges.
A healthy and compassionate society needs both knowledge and collective well-being, which no government and no individuals can solely provide. It takes a whole village in a traditional sense.