Lydia Taft Pratt Library Library Maintains a Heritage with “The Commons” organizations

By Dena Marger Lydia Taft Pratt Librarian

Did you know that at Lydia Taft Pratt Library we never collect fees for overdue books and materials? Why not? Because research has shown that rather than helping to retrieve books, the only purpose that overdue fees serve is to alienate our communities from participation. And, that is the exact opposite of what any library mission specifies as their function or purpose. People are actually less likely to return late books to a library where they will face fees than one where they won’t. People hate being nickeled and dimed for books they have already returned. So, we don’t do it.

I want to introduce you to the concept of “the commons.” Historically, the idea of the commons “take[s] root in medieval England, as lands where peasants could tend land in common, hold festivals, and govern independently outside of the purview of a

Geranium Festival & Silent Auction Returns!

The Lydia Taft Pratt Library is again holding it’s annual flower and auction fest where: Dummerston Community Center when: May 20, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

For more Information or to participate by donating to the silent auction contact Catherine O’Callaghan, Lydia’s Friends, catherineocallaghan32@gmail.com.

feudal lord.” (Halperin) I tend to think of it as locations that facilitate social relations that are not based on the exchange of money. But, really, it’s more of a concept than a physical site. Everyone is welcome and invited to the commons. Examples include public parks, the seashore, the public library, the sidewalk, the sky. It is all the places that belong to us all.

Librarians are professionals concerned with the free and open dissemination of knowledge, and we view information as a public and common good. The Lydia Taft Pratt vision makes clear that, rather than being a mere supplier of books, we are an institution dedicated to strengthening community through the sharing of knowledge and resources. Let me repeat that: we are an institution dedicated to strengthening community through the sharing of resources. We are not a private club. This is why we do not charge money for any of our programs or services.

A library’s shared resources include books, but equally important in most libraries is the provision of public space. Public space is used in most libraries by community members to read, study, apply for jobs, learn, build, and socialize. And, even though space is in short supply at the Lydia Taft Pratt library, we have wholly embraced the concept of the commons. We are here to build community through the sharing of resources that are freely available to everyone.

This is not to say that we never ask for money. Frankly, it is not possible to operate a public library with only the $15,000 appor-

Sponsors

Meg Murtha

Tom Zopf

Joe & Anne Little

Doug and Ann Kroc

Alvino & Bea Fantini tionment that we receive annually from the Town of Dummerston. As I’ve written before, we rank toward the bottom compared to other nearby libraries in terms of how many hours we are able to be open, how many paid professional staff hours we can afford, and how much actual square footage we have. It is for this reason that we host occasional fundraising events, and that we send out an annual fundraising appeal each year in November. We recognize and are so grateful to those folks who contribute to it because they love the fact that their small town has a public library. So, while we don’t ask for fees for our services, we are so grateful when our community remembers us in their charitable giving or participates in fundraising events.

Jennie Rose Halperin states in her piece The Library Commons , “The spirit of the commons is the spirit of imagining, of bringing people and resources together, and creating a necessarily positive vision for the world not as it is, but as it could be.” This is a value that we strive towards at Lydia Taft Pratt Library. Happy Spring!

Halperin, J. R. (n.d.). The Library Commons: An Imagination and an Invocation. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2020/the-library-commons/.

Friends of the Library Needs Support for Book Adoption

By Linda Rood

For the third year in a row, the loss of in-person town meeting meant the loss of the opportunity for the Friends of the Library at Dummerston School to host our book adoption event. Once again, we must ask for donations to be mailed, and hope that next year we will be able to gather in the school library and offer the books for your adoption. We should have quite a collection by then!

Please help us again this year to buy new books for the Dummerston School Library and the children of Dummerston. Any amount will be helpful and appreciated. Please mail checks made out to “Friends of the Library,” in care of Linda Rood, 668 Quarry Road, Dummerston, VT 05301.