I was pretty happy to hear President Barack Obama mention a public library in his speech this week.  He said,

“I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina — a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She had been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this chamber. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, “We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.” That’s what she said. We are not quitters.”

What if Ty’Sheoma didn’t have a public library where she could go to use the computer? Or what if her public library’s hours were cut? Or if they didn’t have the equipment or staff to help her?  Even though President Obama didn’t expound on Ty’Sheoma’s use of the public library, I’m still pretty thrilled that he actually mentioned the words “public library” and maybe got a few people thinking about the value of the public library.

Wouldn’t it be great if our Michigan governor and legislators picked up on this thread and started talking about the value of public libraries in our communities?