Laughter bounces through the building, and gentle conversation fills the spaces between shelves. This year, the Austin Public Library (APL) will have been a lively gathering place for readers, writers and seekers of knowledge for a century.
The Austin Public Library system has grown immensely over the last hundred years — from one room in a rented space above a newspaper office on Congress Avenue to the beloved Central location, 20 branch locations and the Austin History Center. Today, APL offers robust programming reinforcing and reflecting the city’s literary culture.
“[W]e try to be a supportive force and role in Austin’s literary culture,” Adult Services Librarian Maddie Vaughn said. “So, we do our best to support literacy, and all those people who find themselves drawn to it. I love, especially in Austin specifically, there is like, people love to read and engage in literary spaces here.”
Each branch features its own clubs and events, catering to the specific communities in the surrounding neighborhoods. Some book clubs, like the Hampton branch’s “Steeped in Books,” have connected readers for years.
“I’ve been coming since maybe 2009, and over the years I’ve met several people whose opinions I really value,” Betty Halperin, a club member, said. “It’s a good place to get book recommendations.”
For lifelong readers like Halperin, APL holds a special significance in their lives beyond finding their next read.
“This book club has given me a home away from home with books,” Halperin said. “And that’s where I’m the most comfortable. And it’s welcoming and allowed me to feed my passion of reading.”
Another book club patron, Linda H., loves that the group encourages her to make deeper connections with the books she reads and helps her consider different perspectives.
“It’s really nice when new people come in or people of varying life stages come in because they all read different things, right? They have different influences,” Linda H. said. “You don’t always want to be in a homogeneous group because you’re not getting different points of view.”
For Linda H., going to the library is not just about learning new things from the opinions of her club members. She encourages everyone to use the library to learn about the world without needing to travel outside the city.
“I think it’s one of the greatest resources available to the public,” Linda H. said. “Everybody should read.”
Other APL programs, such as the children’s story time sessions, also provide community members with the chance to learn and connect. Youth Librarian Kristin McWilliams notes that sometimes the connections spill beyond the library doors.
“I see it at story times happening, where caregivers will meet each other in the story times and become friends, and I know some of them will start their own book clubs,” McWilliams said. “So, I feel like there’s also so much that goes on, not just in the library branch, because these connections are made.”
The library does not just provide community and opportunities for readers. APL is also focused on supporting writers through workshops and reference guides and highlighting local authors through programming. For example, the Greater Austin Book Festival featured authors exclusively from Hays, Williamson and Travis Counties.
“I think we put a greater emphasis on self-published indie published authors,” Vaughn said. “We try to keep a more well-grounded approach. We’re like a different sort of vibe, I guess. It’s mostly like the smaller publishers and specifically very local.”
In addition to its own events and clubs, APL partners with schools, retirement homes and other organizations to ensure accessible and diverse literary programming. However, APL currently faces a variety of challenges.
“[O]ne of the biggest challenges that I’ve come up with as a librarian, it’s actually something that’s kind of really simple, but it’s still pretty challenging, and that is just visibility,” Interim Branch Manager Madison Schimmel said. “So, really being able to engage with the community and let them know of all the different services and resources that we offer. I think that visibility is kind of the challenge that I think all libraries are going to have just because there’s still that kind of mental idea of a library is a building of books. And it’s like, yes, and we have so much more.”
Another issue that many librarians have been trying to address is censorship and book challenges.
“[R]ecently the City Council designated Austin Public Library as a book safe harbor, and that was in reaction to books being taken out of schools,” Vaughn said. “So, it’s just making sure that we have a well-balanced collection that serves our community the best it needs to be.”
McWilliams has also seen patrons hiding diverse books as a form of censorship. However, as a youth librarian, she has noticed a unique additional challenge in serving the children in the community.
“I see caregivers coming in with their kids, and they’re wanting their kids to read at a specific reading level,” McWilliams said. “And in my mind, I’m like, I would love for this kid to be a lifelong reader, for them to love reading, for them to have reading as something that they can go back to again and again throughout their life. But the caregivers are like, oh, I want my kids to do well to succeed, so I want them to be on the highest reading level and things like that. So, sometimes there are challenges where you want to find something that the kid wants to read, but then also that the parent is gonna be okay with.”
Despite the challenges, APL librarians, and the library system as a whole, face, Schimmel is looking forward to continued growth.
“I know our library system is only going to grow and get bigger and better,” Schimmel said. “As our community grows and changes and develops over time, so will our libraries.”
