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A real value card – sign up for yours at the library

Do you carry a handful of little plastic cards with you, either in your wallet or on your keyring? It seems that we all carry these “value cards” with us every day.

I was thinking about the value of these cards recently as I was considering that September is Library Card Sign-up Month with the American Library Association.

When we carry and use a value card, otherwise known as a loyalty card, we hope to receive some benefit with its use. What benefit is there? With store loyalty cards, we receive some type of discount but only when we spend money with that store. And for those of us with credit cards, the interest on them can be out of this world. With a library card, interest is the best part and rather than a penalty, it’s simply what the cardholder puts into it.

Consider then the little plastic library card you have. For starters, it’s free. You don’t have to spend anything to receive one or to use it. And the value you receive is somewhat stunning. When you consider all the subscription options we have available today with their associated costs, we spend much more than people did just one generation back. With movie subscriptions, TV station subscriptions, streaming music services, book, magazine and newspaper subscriptions the costs can be daunting. But for one adult using 12 books, 12 children’s books, 12 audiobooks and two newspapers a year with 52 movies and 12 adult programs, in one year, that person gets $994 worth of value just for using the library. What a value for a tiny piece of plastic! If you’ve never thought in terms of the value of that card, maybe it’s time to consider what value you might get from the library right up the road.

This also doesn’t take into account the other value that we receive with a library card. Check-out materials are wonderful of course, but they’re not the whole story. We consider the value of human connection to be crucial, especially in rural areas and even more so during this difficult time. Through programs and other opportunities for community members to connect, the library provides a special gathering space. Bringing people and ideas together is our mission here in Ignacio and one we don’t take lightly. This past summer, the Ignacio library hosted outdoor music events where folks came together for good food, conversation and wonderful music.

The value of a library card in a child’s life is immense when we see how literacy improves and school reading scores go up in relation to the number of children with a library card. Internet access, technology and educational databases are also among the offerings from the local libraries that increase the value of a library card for a child and our local families.

Your library staff is looking forward to the start of school, to seeing more and more of you in the library, and to connecting our community with our library. Please stop by soon to get your local library “value card.”

Marcia Vining is director of Ignacio Community Library.