Libraries play a more important role in the daily life of contemporary Americans. It is not only a platform for spreading cultural knowledge, but also a place for community recreation. It is a study room for children after school and a classroom for new immigrants to integrate into American society; It is the embodiment of government functions and the channel for people to give back to society. Shortly after I arrived in America, I was shocked by its developed library system. At first, I was surprised that almost every small city has its own library (the size and population of small cities in the United States is only about one district in China), and the number can even be described as scattered. With the deepening of understanding, I realized that the open, convenient and electronic multi-functional service provided by the library is the most commendable.

Open to anyone.

The library mentioned here refers to public libraries serving the public, excluding university libraries, private libraries and presidential libraries. Public libraries are open to almost anyone. Visitors can borrow books, periodicals, audio books, CDs and DVDs for free as long as they show their valid identity documents, and there is no deposit or handling fee.

Most of the buildings in public libraries are simple and practical, and many even have a history of nearly a hundred years. But no matter how old or small, the reading environment is clean and comfortable, and the books are pleasant. People can not only read books, newspapers and magazines here, but also use Wi-Fi and computers for free. Because the library is highly open, even homeless people can enjoy these services. Many people simply regard the library as their home, and they can stay in the library all day as long as it does not affect the normal order.

In recent years, electronic reading has swept the world, and the public library system in the United States has not fallen behind, but has adapted to and made good use of this trend.

On the one hand, they pay close attention to the digitization of their rare books and historical materials, on the other hand, they cooperate with many e-book providers. In this process, the cooperation between libraries is also deeper, and many libraries often join hands to buy expensive e-book databases. In this way, each library only needs to pay a small fee, so that readers can borrow a large number of e-books for free and support reading on various mobile terminals such as iPhone, iPad, kindle and Samsung.

Shadow play is also a service content.

Lending service is only a basic service, and the library also undertakes many other public services.

Taking Los Angeles County as an example, the librarian of the Children's Department of the Los Angeles Central Library will learn to tell stories and perform shadow play, and arrange fixed time for children's audiences every month; Employees in the youth department need to know the SAT very well, and provide exam consultation and career planning guidance for teenagers.

In addition, every summer, reading club is almost an indispensable routine project in every library. Many libraries often hold small performances and exhibitions, and Crowe Library in San Marino town actually provides passport handling services. Ms. mcdermott, the librarian, once wrote a book about how librarians should adapt to multi-functional work.

To maintain so many public service functions, we must have enough human resources. However, there are not many official staff in the library, and most of the special services are completed by volunteers. The library only needs to provide venues and funds to carry out necessary training for volunteers.

Librarians belong to the government civil servant system and generally have a professional degree in library management. They are mainly responsible for budgeting, purchasing new books, classifying books and daily borrowing, but they also participate in a considerable number of public service projects. Volunteers only participate in a special project, such as giving English lessons to new immigrants and acting as literacy counselors.

In addition, each library has a board of directors with different backgrounds, which is responsible for providing suggestions from different fields and playing a supervisory role to ensure that the library meets various needs to the maximum extent. Theoretically, any citizen can apply to the municipal government to become a member of the board of directors, but only candidates who have voted by the city Council can hold the position, and the work of board members is unpaid.