Abstract:
Libraries are a vital segment of America’s communities, with more than 116,000 public, school, college, tribal, and other libraries employing approximately 370,000 American workers. Americans visit libraries over 1.3 billion times each year – more often than they visit museums, national parks, and live music and theater combined. Libraries play vital roles in advancing workforce development and skills training, lifelong learning from infants through seniors, entrepreneurship and small business development, digital literacy, and social inclusion. As the nation emerges from the economic and social devastation of the coronavirus and the extreme division of the Trump era, libraries will be at the forefront of helping Americans to recover and reconnect.
