Are Libraries Fading into Oblivion? What's Your Story?

Farmington Hills-based Gale is collecting personal stories about libraries on a web site. (Screenshot: YouTube video)

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Have copious Internet resources made the local library passé?

No, says a Farmington Hills company that aims to change perceptions that libraries are irrelevant.

Gale, a leading provider of library resources and part of Cengage Learning, has launched a national My Library Story campaign that invites people to share stories about the impact libraries have had on their lives.

The stories are collected on a web site, and for every essay submitted through Feb. 28, 2015, Gale will donate $1 to an advertising fund used to promote libraries through mainstream media during National Library Week 2015.

According to Gale, Ninety-five percent of Americans believe public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed.

One of them is the father of a woman who signed her essay “Carol S,” who told a story shared to her by her father who grew up during the Depression.

“He was a high school dropout,” she wrote. “Although he loved to read, he didn’t like school, so he would frequently ditch class and hide out at the Detroit Public Library, devouring books until the truant officer found him and dragged him back to school. Eventually he dropped out of school altogether in order to work. …”

He earned a GED in the U.S. Navy and was in his mid-30s when a friend told him he “thought like a lawyer” and should become an attorney.

“A boy whose guidance counselor told him that he’d be nothing more than a ditch digger if he dropped out of school eventually graduated from Detroit College of Law and worked as an attorney for almost thirty years,” his daughter wrote. “All this to say, my father has always credited the Detroit Public Library as his real source of an education. …”

Gale senior vice president Frank Menchaca said that though the challenges facing libraries are real, such stories demonstrate the power of libraries to change lives.

“If we’re going to change the headlines about libraries today, we need to tell a stronger story around what it is that libraries do and how they change lives for the better,” he said “Through the Career Online High School program, which brings accredited education to public libraries and our newly launched My Library Story community, Gale is providing the tools and the platform for libraries to demonstrate their value.”

To share your story, go here.