Public Libraries Are Lit

So this is a story about how the Boston Public Library, or any public library that is free and open to the public, are incredible institutions that need to be in every community all across the world, fully funded, hard stop.

Let me tell you the story about how I used the Boston Public Library today. I am a little bit embarrassed to say that in all of the 31 years I’ve been in Boston, this is really the only time I used some of the Boston Public Library resources in a way like I’m going to explain. But I also understand that part of it is due to a bit of privilege I experience because I’ve always had access to things inside of my school that I thought I needed.

Here’s the story. Another embarrassing thing is that my car’s inspection sticker was overdue. It expired in April 2024. It’s now July, and I needed to get an inspection sticker today. When I pulled up to the inspection sticker place and was about to take out my registration, I looked at the registration date and saw that it expired on June 30, 2024. That was just 12 days ago, so my registration was expired too.

I needed to get a inspection sticker and renew my registration. But I had to go online to get my registration form so I could show it to the safety inspection shop. I was far away from home and needed a solution to get my inspection sticker today because it had already been expired for so many months.

What I did was head to the Adams Street Boston Public Library a few blocks away. I walked in and asked the front desk librarian for help. I asked if I could print out a piece of paper because I knew that when you renew your registration, you get a printout to use until the official registration page arrives by mail.

The librarian asked if I had a library card. I said no. She said, “Okay, let me look you up in our system.” I gave her my ID, and she told me, “Yes, you do have a library account.” She asked me to confirm my address, and my address was an old one from an apartment I lived in maybe 10-15 years ago.

She said, “Okay, I’m going to print out a new library card.” She printed it out, gave me the option to change my PIN code, and said, “All right, just go to the computers over there, go to the website you need, and print out what you need.” So that’s what I did.

I went to the computer, logged in using my library card ID and PIN code, accessed the RMV site, printed out my renewal notice, and sent it to the printer. It showed me that I had a balance of $20 that I could use for free prints. I printed it out, thanked the librarians, and headed back to the inspection sticker spot to show them my renewal notice. They accepted it, and I got a new inspection sticker that expires next year at this time. This was all in the span of 1 hour.

This story is about how Free and Public Libraries are incredible institutions, and that we (me) ought to value them more! Any library that is free and open to the public ought to be deemed a necessary institution, especially in a time of peace. Looking around the building I got the sense that the library was really intentional about making the space inviting and a place for people to learn and progress in life by using the resources at their disposal. So I’m happy that I was able to just pulled over to the side of the road and walk in a library to print out a form that the government required. Absolutely incredible. Every country needs public libraries.