If you are reading this, then you survived last year, despite at least a couple of predictions that the world would end sometime in 2011. Whew! But beware – some think that the world will end this year. So what’s a person to do in the face of religious, or scientific or just plain nuts doomsday pronouncements?

One thing to do is to think about what these predictions are based on and decide if you agree or not, then act accordingly. Another thing to might be to skip that first part and just ask “What would ‘act accordingly’ look like?” (Or, what purpose does a doomsday threat serve?) For instance, if you are a Christian, preparing for the end of the world might mean sincere repentance of your sins and trying to convert your family and friends while there still is time. If you are an environmentalist and believe that pollution and misuse of the earth’s resources will bring about the end of life as we know it, you might become more serious about conservation and reducing your carbon footprint.

What strikes me at this point is that these responses to the threat of the end of the world are things that people (usually) should be doing whether or not the world is going to end tomorrow. Shouldn’t they? Shouldn’t one try to do better without being scared into it? Shouldn’t Christians eschew sin because that’s the right thing to do? Shouldn’t we save the whales because whales are worth saving?

(OK. Now for the tie-in to libraries. Think it can be done?)

S0 ... why does a public librarian ruminate on the end of the world? Because I don’t worry about it. Like genuinely religious people or bona fide environmentalists, librarians believe that what we do is important whether or not the world ends tomorrow, so we do it. In fact, we believe that what we do helps the world be a better place when tomorrow comes. (Some of us even hope that what we do helps insure that tomorrow does come!) We know that the citizens of our area need to be literate and educated in order to do better in this difficult economic period. However, we believe that everyone ought to be literate and informed because those are good ends in themselves – all the time.

Libraries struggle to maintain their hours, services, and programs in hard times such as those we have experienced in the last several years, because we know that a literate and informed community can weather bad times better than an illiterate and uninformed one. But we won’t close up shop when times get better. On the contrary – when we can expand what we do, we will. More books to read, in multiple formats.

More computers to use for both business and personal growth. More programming to encourage reading and educational and cultural enrichment. More teen programs to positively engage our young adults. More programs and services for our growing senior population.

Why increase library services? To prepare for the end of the world? No. To make the world we have a better place.

Support your local library in 2012. Read, learn, connect.