All Students Deserve a Library!

By Keva Rale

In response to: Cities and towns across California only get the libraries they can afford

When I was younger, I remember spending hours in the public library with my mother and younger sister, eagerly reading every book I could get my hands on. My time in the public library not only shaped me into a curious student and forever learner, the library was a safe space where I could learn and grow without fear. As I grew older, my mother let me know that she moved our family to a town with a well funded public library for a reason. She wanted her children to have a place to learn in peace and be surrounded by resources to aid our development. Unfortunately, she knew the only place she would find such an impressive resource was in a wealthy, majority white community. As a person of color, she had to make sacrifices for her children and raise them in a place where people did not look like her. 

In the state of California, libraries are a clear example of educational inequity. Proposition 13 prohibits billions of dollars in funding from property taxes to be used towards schools and libraries. Instead, these funds are pocketed by wealthy homeowners who already have the resources to support their local institutions. This is why libraries in cities such as Santa Clara continue to thrive, and libraries remain grossly underfunded in the San Joaquin Valley, Norther California, and other inland areas. California’s library systems received 94% of their funding from local government, meaning wealthy communities will ALWAYS have resources that low income communities will ALWAYS lack. This frustrating inequity will continue unless our state agrees to reform Proposition 13 and increase funding for local governments across the state, regardless of zip code, and regardless of how many of their residents work at high value tech corporations. You see, how much money a child’s parents make should NOT impact their ability to take refuge in a secure, friendly, and well funded public library. Every student deserves a safe space to read and grow. Every student deserves a library.