The year is 1983. A mother and her young daughter, living in government housing, walk for six kilometres. They are on their way to see a new community facility be officially opened - the local library!
Back home the young girl has a small bookshelf stocked with nursery rhymes, fairy tales and an incomplete set of encyclopedia. Entering the library was an experience! So many books! Not only could she borrow books to take home, there were also videos, cassettes and puppets - and all for free!
Over the years the library became an important part of her life. She visited for leisure, for study, for advice and sometimes just for a quiet place to think. In her later years, the library was a place where she could access computers and the Internet (luxuries that were out of the family's reach).
Between the resources of her school library and her local library, the girl was able to become not only the first in her family to finish high school, but the first to go on to higher education. An achievement that would not have been possible without the fair and equitable access to resources and knowledge offered by libraries.
The role of the teacher librarian is an ever-changing, dynamic and complex creature. At the heart of it though is a desire to share, to be truly altruistic. The impact of the teacher librarian can (and does) reach across the socio-economic divide. There cannot be equity in education without equitable access.
Brewster Kahle shares his vision and demonstrates how libraries are working to provide greater access than ever before in his 'TED Talks' presentation.
Brewster Kahle builds a free digital library - TED Talks
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