Just exactly how does one operate a public library?


Well, almost all public libraries are funded by local or national taxes and most operate under local authority or national remits and regulation, with ‘mother organisations’ mentoring and advocating on their behalf. In America, for instance, there’s the American Library Association (ALA), while the UK has CILIP (the Chartered Institute for Library & Information Professionals) as well as the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA), amongst other bodies. Internationally, IFLA – The International Federation for Library Associations – lobbies on behalf of the work of Libraries, and their importance to our communities, across the board. Meanwhile, UNESCO has a Public Libraries Manifesto, which sets out some basic concepts for what should constitute ‘a’ public library, some of which include:

“The Public Library shall in principle be free of charge. The public library is the responsibility of local and national authorities. It must be supported by specific legislation and financed by national and local governments. It has to be an essential component of any long-term strategy for culture, information provision, literacy and education.”

UNESCO’s Manifesto also states that: “The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision-making and cultural development of the individual and social groups. This Manifesto proclaims UNESCO's belief in the public library as a living force for education, culture and information, and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of men and women.”

We totally agree with all that.

In fact, much of what UNESCO states as the ‘mission’ of public libraries forms the basis of our project itself.

We’ve just taken it upon ourselves to re-evaluate the library & archive model for our new 21st Century communities.

We have a vision that places the public library at the heart of such communities, cultures, and societies. We see that much of the original doctrine for the establishment of ‘public libraries’ in the first place stems from our ancestors’ belief in providing universal free access to knowledge.

Somewhere down the line since then, we’ve somehow lost our way. Rights are being taken away from us as we speak.

So, right now, the time is right to firmly replace the library and archive in our individual and collective worlds.

We’re doing it one person, one poem, and one book at a time.

We do it for free. Without any official external form of funding.

We do it because we believe we have a social responsibility.

We do it because we see ourselves as accountable.

We do it because we want to make a difference.

We do it because we give a shit.

A really, really, really big shit.

In fact, enough of a big shit, that for three years we gave up a paying job, a permanent home, most of our adult worldly belongings, the ability to see friends and family more than once or twice a year, and, yeah, a few other of the nicer, finer, things in life, to...what?

To operate a free public library of poetry for anyone and everyone, anywhere we are.

Why?

Well, you’d better click on the next tab to find out...