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libraries
Passports Welcome Here: The Importance of Crossing Borders at the Library
Back new bills now up for review to support libraries in providing passport application services, particularly in communities where it can be difficult or intimidating for people to use other federal offices.
Feb 28, 2026
Recent public announcements that many public libraries could no longer accept passport applications surprised many.
In a now unusual attempt at bicameral and bipartisan legislation, Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), have put forth bills (H.R.6997 and S.3733) that would enable all public libraries, whether they are organized as units of government or nonprofit organizations, to serve as passport acceptance facilities designated by the State Department.
As a university educator in Library and Information Science, I was at first taken aback by the passport application ban attempt. Many others were surprised that libraries had been accepting passport applications. But then perhaps neither the service nor the attempt to shut it down are a surprise at all.
Public libraries across the nation are an integral piece of our social and civic infrastructure. Librarians see up close the needs for social services in their communities, and they step up to meet those needs.
Libraries are where people step from one world into another, sometimes by opening books and sometimes by sharing space with people very different from themselves.
Libraries provide internet access for people who do not have the resources to get online from home or may not have a home where they can get online. Libraries provide physical shelter, in times of climate emergency like extreme heatwaves or intense freezes. They provide shelter for people who need to get off the street for a few hours to find a safe place. Recently, they have begin offering telehealth booths to support medical care in remote communities.
Libraries promote literacy, a lynchpin of economic security for both individuals and the communities in which they live. Indeed, there is considerable research demonstrating that there are higher literacy rates in communities with access to a public library, particularly in low income and rural areas.
There are approximately 17,000 public libraries in the United States, a number that has remained remarkably stable in the past few decades. Despite funding difficulties, skepticism about the value of physical libraries in the digital era, and political and social challenges to library collections, libraries remain at the center, meeting many of those communities’ needs.
Of course, it is perfect that libraries were places to apply for passports as they are places of border crossing. Libraries are where people step from one world into another, sometimes by opening books and sometimes by sharing space with people very different from themselves.
There is a public library that famously straddles the Vermont-Canada border where you can literally step across a border. That quiet fame has grown louder now that it plays a key role in Louise Penny’s latest novel, The Black Wolf.
To step into the world of the library at most you’ll need a library card. Everyone is welcome.
To be sure, not every library looks like it welcomes all people with open arms. Legacy architecture and practices can perpetuate the perception of the library as hushed and exclusive.
The precarity of funding for public libraries often prevents libraries from addressing that perception. Many libraries aspire to renovating and modernizing their spaces in ways that they simply cannot afford. Public libraries rely upon local taxpayers for much of their funding, but they also rely upon federal grants to innovate and develop new initiatives.
Nearly one year ago, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order intended to dismantle the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The agency awards almost $300,000,000 in grants every year, including more than $160 million that goes to states and largely supports the work of public libraries.
The executive order was successfully challenged in court by the attorneys general of 21 states, and on November 21 of last year, the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
One result of this victory is that last month, IMLS awarded for eight projects “dedicated to building AI literacy.” Once again, libraries see a need and step up to meet it.
Many people voice public criticism and concern about the use of public libraries. Critics complain that they are overrun with noisy teens after school, socializing and playing video games. Some complain libraries are filled with sleeping, foul-smelling people who experience homelessness, or that they are opening the doors for children to step into obscenity.
But it is crucial to see the critical need for accessible public libraries in this country. It is important to support these bills now up for review to support libraries in providing passport application services, particularly in communities where it can be difficult or intimidating for people to use other federal offices.
More than that, it is essential for the country for policymakers, funders, and all Americans to support libraries through ensuring funding, community advocacy, and moral support. It is crucial to help libraries continue to be places where everyone can cross borders and step into new worlds.
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Beyond Books: Libraries Are Climate-Resilient Community Infrastructure
Libraries are indispensable not only for climate and informational literacy but also as valuable hubs for creating community solutions to our planet’s most pressing problems.
Dec 20, 2025
If you’re a parent, caregiver, or family member hoping to save a few bucks this holiday season due to our country’s affordability crisis, you’re not alone.
As a lifelong educator and author who practically grew up in libraries, I can offer you a great tip: Skip the malls this season and take kids to the local library. Within their walls awaits an exciting world of lessons and self-empowerment for your child. They can borrow books or even movies for free. More than that, libraries have become ground zero for climate change education and serve as essential hubs for community resilience and civic engagement.
As a former public school teacher, a professor, and the author of two books on climate change and environmental justice education, public libraries were essential to my success. Growing up, I was that kid who was friends with the librarian. As an introverted student, the public library and school library were places of refuge where I found joy in the world of books. Memories of friendly librarians who encouraged my insatiable curiosity and quest for knowledge are among the many reasons I became an educator.
Here are three ways to get the most out of your local library:
Repair and Reuse
I always tell my students that you don’t need the newest “gadgets” to make a meaningful impact. I know that many parents, caregivers, and families are struggling with inflation and the rising costs of goods, especially as the holidays approach. One of the easiest remedies is to repair rather than replace, which is a climate change solution because it reduces waste sent to landfills.
Instead of buying more, fixing damaged or broken belongings like clothes, furniture, and electronics can teach new skills, foster self-reliance, and build connections with family or the community. For example, some meaningful childhood memories were fixing my toys with my dad and learning how to use tools, which sparked my interest in STEM education and sustainability.
Instead of asking what to buy kids, think about what new information and skills they can be taught.
Many public libraries, makerspaces, and city sustainability offices offer “Repair Cafes,” or “Fix-It Clinics,” that feature hands-on and intergenerational events where people can bring in their broken items, and repair coaches provide instructions on how to fix them. Events have occurred in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Albuquerque, New York, and San Diego. See if any events are happening in your community. Additionally, if you’re already handy and have repair skills, libraries around the world offer tool lending programs. You can search for a library near you to borrow a kit.
Public Earth Observatories
Learners of all ages can take action on climate change and explore their backyard, community, or neighborhood. Libraries also serve as public Earth observatories. To be a neighborhood or backyard scientist, you can also visit a library.
Neighborhood science, also known as Citizen Science or Community Science, comes alive when ordinary people of any age gather scientific information locally and share it with the global scientific community. For example, with a library card, you can check out a citizen science kit that has all of the necessary tools to explore biodiversity, observe cloud patterns, and monitor air quality.
Libraries around the country have citizen science kits, including the Los Angeles Public Library, the Maricopa County Library District, the Pima County Public Library, the Morgantown Public Library System, the Edwardsville Public Library, and the Longwood Public Library. Families and caregivers can even practice their skills and gear up to participate in Audubon’s legendary Christmas Bird Count that occurs every December, and is the nation’s longest-running community science bird count. Libraries have stepped in to fill a critical gap in climate literacy and community resilience during the climate emergency. However, libraries are also being targeted by the Trump administration.
Climate Change Action
The Trump administration has a clearly established anti-information agenda. The long and expanding list includes book bans and information censorship; attacks on cultural and educational institutions that teach the truth about American history; attempts to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides significant funding to libraries nationwide; and firing the librarian of Congress, the nation’s top librarian. Librarians at federally operated presidential libraries have been fired, like at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Funding public libraries also helps finance city and county sustainability efforts. Libraries are climate resilience hubs, and libraries across the country serve as community cooling centers amid rising temperatures associated with climate change. Amid the heatwaves that have impacted Los Angeles over the past several years, I’ve visited some Los Angeles Public Library locations for a reprieve from triple-digit heat.
Libraries are also disaster recovery hubs. As a result, climate action groups, fire departments, emergency management agencies, and local businesses can also rally to demonstrate the value of public libraries to the community’s sustainability plans. Advocacy groups can also lobby state and regional representatives. Libraries are indispensable not only for climate and informational literacy but also as valuable hubs for creating community solutions to our planet’s most pressing problems.
Instead of asking what to buy kids, think about what new information and skills they can be taught: The climate crisis needs more innovative, creative, and community-driven solutions, and libraries are primed to help.
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The Librarian’s Call: Documenting Is Resistance
History is protected by those who collect, preserve, and share the facts.
Nov 02, 2025
We are living through a period of profound uncertainty and systemic challenge—where erasure of truth and history is not only possible, but actively underway.
As a librarian, I bear witness not only to the crisis but to the opportunity: History is protected by those who collect, preserve, and share the facts, and the archive becomes a battleground where every saved photograph, flyer, email, playlist, program, and story is an act of resistance.
Let this be painfully clear: The future will only remember what is preserved today, and the choice is between standing by as stories are diluted or destroyed—or fighting for the record, for the archive, and for the truth with steady, everyday work that anyone can participate in. The war over narrative is here, and ownership of legacy cannot be outsourced, because no one else will know the names, dates, slang, inside jokes, or quiet heroism that define a community’s life.
Sometimes it feels like things are coming apart, and if attention is not paid now, stories—who people are and what has been seen—might disappear for good.
If the caring comes too late, the evidence may already be gone, which is why telling stories and saving the truth matters not just for now but for those who inherit the consequences and possibilities.
The old Jay Z line, “Nobody wins when the family feuds,” lands because silence inside a community becomes absent in the archive, which later becomes absent in the official story, in classrooms, policy, and memory itself.
Are we prepared to wake up only when it is too late, when the consequences directly affect our own families, our block, our congregation, our civic clubs, our schools?
Understand this: It is already impacting daily life, and the fight for story and legacy is happening right now, whether it is acknowledged or not.
History shows that those who seek to erase, distort, or control a people’s story often target libraries, archives, teachers, records, and public forums first.
Even in times of repression, clandestine diaries, underground newsletters, and quietly kept ledgers ensured truths could be reconstructed later, and that same imperative presses upon the present: Document clearly, share responsibly, preserve redundantly, and hold the line until silence cannot take root.
If the caring comes too late, the evidence may already be gone, which is why telling stories and saving the truth matters not just for now but for those who inherit the consequences and possibilities.
Some systems are actively reshaping what counts as “official,” especially where histories of self-defense, mutual aid, organizing, and everyday cultural brilliance live, and if those are not written down, recorded, and stored safely, they can be excluded from the record that shapes future understanding and power.
This is not about one person or one group—it is about building a durable, collective record that includes the messy parts, the small details, the contradictions, and the joy.
Recordkeepers, librarians, archivists, genealogists, teachers, artists, and elders carry a heavy responsibility, but this work is also neighborly, teachable, and doable at kitchen tables, barbershops, churches, community centers, and school hallways.
If there is one takeaway, it is this: If the future matters, start saving things now, even if imperfectly. Write the story, label the photo, date the flyer, back up the voice memo, and share what is known in forms that can travel, be understood, and be retrieved later.
Start small and steady: one labeled photo, one recorded memory, one folder that makes sense to someone else tomorrow, and one backup in a safe place, repeated week after week until a living archive appears.
Because nobody wins if silence is allowed to do the writing, and the time to act is right now so that the record stands, speaks, and protects those who come next.
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