The public good is under attack. Whether in public health, public schools, or public libraries, those who work to support the public good are on the defensive.

As we work to defend libraries, we must remember that they are not alone. As sociologist Eric Klinenberg points out, libraries are part of our social infrastructure. It therefore follows that defending libraries can be part of defending our social infrastructure, which also includes parks, schools, and more.

During the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to interview over 80 individuals in 22 communities about how and why they work with public libraries to support healthy communities. This experience taught me that a key reason to love libraries is that they are deeply embedded in communities, working hand in hand with everyone from health departments to community-based organizations and increasing access to everything from cooking classes to safe walking routes throughout communities.

[Also read: "Houston Public Library Hosts Mental Health Program for Families | Reasons to Love Libraries"]

I’ll never forget talking with D.J. Salvante, then director of Parks and Recreation in Scotch Plains, NJ. “When I came here to the township of Scotch Plains, [library director] Michelle Willis was probably the second person I met,” D.J. told me. “I had a nice conversation with her. So, then I was thinking, and taking a look at our programming, and the things we offer: A lot of times what you see the rec department’s doing, the library’s doing as well. So instead of competing, we asked ourselves, are there ways that we can work together to provide a more enhanced experience?”

From there, Michelle and D.J. worked together to do just that.

To celebrate the things that come from these collaborations, Let’s Move in Libraries, the organization I started in 2016 to promote healthy living initiatives that involve public libraries, launched the annual I Partner with My Public Library Awards in 2023. The first year, we received 55 nominations from 22 states and awarded 10 organizations and individuals for working collaboratively with public libraries, in some cases in partnerships of nearly 30 years.
 

It is hard to pick a favorite, but I am especially awed by 2023 award-winning partnership between the City of Chillicothe (OH) Transit Department and the Chillicothe and Ross County (OH) Public Library and the 2024 award-winning partnership between the High Point (NC) Public Library and Growdega, a non-profit organization. In Ohio, collaboration led to a portion of the main library’s parking lot becoming a public transit hub, complete with a book-shaped bench for transit users to rest (above left). In North Carolina, the public library donated their old bookmobile to the non-profit, and the two partners worked together to combine food access, food literacy, and library resources at pop-up events throughout the community (above right). Other awardees focused on everything from Juneteenth celebration parades to high-quality, engaging STEM programming. You can learn more about my research and the awards at the Let's Move in Libraries webpage. This year's winners will be announced in November 2025.

A key reason to love libraries is they are critical community partners, working with local, regional, and even national partners like these to bring about initiatives that simply would not exist otherwise. Doing this research, I also learned, unfortunately, that libraries are not always seen and valued as critical community partners. Librarians, too, are often overlooked as community partners. That was true in 2000, when Professor Kathleen de la Peña McCook published A Place at the Table: Participating in Community Building for American Library Association Editions, in which she argues that to be successful, librarians need to find and sustain participation in community collaborations.

And it is true in 2025, based on my research. It is urgent that we see public libraries as part of the public good. In 2020, anti-vaccine and anti-closure forces came after public health and public schools. Those same forces are now coming after libraries. If we want to figure out how we defend libraries, the answer is, together with our allies. We are strong and resilient when we work together, and we are weak and brittle when we work alone. I encourage everyone to learn more about how libraries around you work as community partners and to celebrate the contributions and leadership library workers bring to community collaboratives, which may focus on addressing everything from digital equity to kindergarten readiness.

Let’s do everything we can to ensure that everyone understands that one reason to love libraries is the work they do as community partners.

Noah Lenstra is an associate professor of library and information science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he brings a community-organizing approach to the teaching and research of public librarianship. Since 2016, Lenstra has managed the Let’s Move in Libraries initiative, an online space for sharing stories and resources related to public library participation in community health initiatives. His books include Healthy Living at the Library and (with Audrey Barbakoff) The 12 Steps to a Community-Led Library.