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There is a meme I've seen several times this month that says, "If free public libraries didn't already exist and someone tried to invent them, they would be condemned as a socialist plot."
Imagine the political ads we'd endure right now if libraries were a new idea. Luckily, they've been around for millennia.
I've written many times over the years about my love of libraries, which started as a child who read every crappy biography ever written about his favorite athletes and continued as an adult who never could have afforded to feed the voracious reading appetites of his two children if he had to pay for the stacks of books they brought home from each library visit. One of those kids now works for a library.
September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month.
I realize September is nearly over, but they'll still give you a card when the calendar flips over to October, and its benefits exist 300+ days a year that most libraries are open.
I've got many cards in my wallet, but the library card may be the most valuable, even if it's not the most used. When I bring home books, music and other items with my American Express card, there's this pesky thing called a bill that shows up in my inbox a month later.
I've never gotten a bill from the library, unless I had an overdue book (and these days many libraries have suspended fines for overdue items).
Before someone emails me, "My tax dollars pay for those libraries," that's true. State tax money does fund libraries, and many communities have additional library levies.
But residents are going to pay that money whether they use the product or not.
My tax dollars pay for a fire department that I hope never has to show up at my house with lights and sirens on. A library is a public service that we should be thrilled to need and use. Not taking advantage of what libraries have to offer is like going to the grocery store, paying for a gallon of milk and then leaving the store without it.
You already spent the money; you might as well take advantage of it.
Everyone knows libraries have books. Studies show that fewer people read books, be it fiction or non-fiction. Not gonna lecture anyone. I don't read as many books as I used to, although that's something I'd like to change.
But everyone should know by now that libraries have far more than just books. Many households subscribe to multiple streaming services, and some of those services barely get used. Think of the money that could be saved by dropping that least-used streaming service and just picking up those one or two movies a month on DVD or Blu-Ray at the library.
Libraries contain other assets as well. The Warren-Trumbull County Public Library system has experience passes that library patrons can check out for free admission to places like OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children's Center for Science & Technology in Youngstown and the Akron Zoo. Those passes could save a family of four $48 at OH WOW! and at least $60 at the zoo.
The most popular item available in the Youngstown/Mahoning County library system last year was laptop computers. They can't be checked out and taken home, but they provide internet access for those looking for work, applying for assistance, doing homework or just web browsing.
The library can help someone find a job, file their taxes, trace their family tree or provide an entertaining (or informative) diversion with a book or a movie.
I'm proud to be a card-carrying member of a couple of local libraries. A well-used library card in a wallet can keep more cash in there as well.
Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.