It is National Library Week.
The 2022 State of America’s Libraries Report is out from the American Library Association.
The year was defined by a rise in challenges to library material, threats against librarians, and the ongoing impacts of year two of the covid-19 pandemic.
Across the country more than 1,500 book titles have been challenged or ultimately pulled from library shelves, librarians have been personally threatened for doing their work, and politicians have threatened to cut library funds.
Add in a tumultuous two years of pandemic that forced innovation on-the-fly and challenged existing funding, and you might think libraries are in big trouble.
Not so fast says Yuma County Library District Director Lisa Mendez
Mendez says more people are using the library now than pre-covid. She says they are accessing materials and programs they never could before and using resources pulled together by a consortium of local partners.
The state of Yuma County’s Public libraries, on this episode of KAWC's Arizona Edition.
