The Freedom Library is celebrating 30 years of serving the public this Fourth of July weekend.
Howard Blitz started the nonprofit thirty years ago with one goal: teach people about the importance of liberty and what it means to be free.
This Saturday, they'll be holding a reading and history of the Declaration of Independence at the Historic Yuma Theatre starting at 10:00 a.m. It’s not only a celebration of the library's anniversary, but a celebration of America’s birthday.
“We’re going to celebrate the document, learn about the history of the document and have a good time,” said Howard Blitz, the founder and director of the Freedom Library.
As Blitz reflects on the last thirty years, he’s incredibly proud of the work the library has done. The Freedom Library has become a place where the community can gather to exchange ideas and learn what it truly means to be free.
“Exciting, terrific, fortunate, that’s how I would describe doing the Freedom Library for 30 years. It’s important, those ideas that we promote here at the Freedom Library. We’re just trying to help people understand the ideas of liberty and what it means to be a free person. Not too many people I know want to be enslaved. Freedom is the natural tendency for human beings, and so anything we can do to help people understand the ideas on liberty, that’s what the Freedom Library is all about.”
Though Blitz has spent much of his professional life working in banking and insurance, he's dedicated his life to the Freedom Library. It’s a mission that took root shortly after he graduated from college and moved to Hawaii.
“It goes back to my days in Honolulu. I went to work for the Bank of Hawaii upon graduating from the University of Arizona, and my boss there, who was the vice president of the Economic Research Department, was on the board of directors for an organization called the Foundation for Economic Education. Leonard Read was the gentleman's name who founded the organization, and when I met him, he truly influenced my life of how I wanted to lead my life and basically what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like him. He said to us when he came to visit us at the Bank of Hawaii, 'If you want to change the world, then change yourself, change yourself for the better.' ”
When he moved back to Arizona, he strived to do just that.
“There was a piece of property here in Yuma that became available. It was two stories, and it was conducive to having my agency downstairs, and the second story we put the Freedom Library, and that's how it started January 26, 1996, and we've been going ever since,” said Blitz.
For three decades, the Freedom Library has become much more than just a place filled with books.
“The intention was to actually have it as a library, but also a place where people can come and have meetings if they want. We started out having weekly discussion groups because we wanted to promote these ideas on liberty. What does it mean to be a free person? We wanted discussions on that so people can learn.”
One of the library’s biggest milestones came in 2022, when it raised enough money to commission a 10-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was dedicated and placed outside a business on South 4th Avenue, one of Yuma’s busiest streets, with the intention that people passing by would be reminded of the importance of liberty.
Blitz invites anyone interested in learning more to visit the Freedom Library at 2035 S. Arizona Ave.
As for the event this Saturday, it is free and open to the public. There will be birthday cake handed out and an opportunity to win an educational scholarship.
