‘Check it out’ showcases collaboration

Kudos to the Friends of the Shafter Library for saving their local library. Steven Mayer’s article highlights visionary leadership at its finest. The piece of Nov.

6, “Check it out,” demonstrates how collaboration between diverse entities — the Friends of the Shafter Library, the city of Shafter, the Kern Community College District via Bakersfield College, the county of Kern and GAF Roofing — can effectively address a vital community need: keeping their public library open and promoting literacy and educational enhancement for all.

The commentary highlights how educational disparity takes root in small towns like Shafter that eventually manifest in non-diverse college student bodies and low graduation rates. It arises when counties require spending cuts to balance budgets. Public libraries are often the losers. Hours are cut and some are even closed. He points out the libraries in Lamont, east Bakersfield, Buttonwillow and Wasco as prime examples. I would add Delano to this list. These communities are significantly comprised of people of color and of modest means. I contend, based on personal experience, that folks of modest means rely more heavily on library services than more affluent residents.

Coming from a family of 11 children, I have vivid memories of entertaining myself by checking out books from the local public library. So, I am convinced having access to books nurtured in me a love for learning, which led to a career in law.

Since 1996, California has banned the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions as a means to promote student diversity. This development has presented a challenge for increasing college graduation rates among nonwhite populations. When library services are curtailed, residents of these impacted communities are denied access to a crucial resource to expand literary and research skills comparable to the level found in more affluent neighborhoods.

As our democracy was taking root, the Founding Fathers were intent on cultivating leaders to lead the fledgling democracy and ensure its survival. Thomas Jefferson argued America’s elite should come from identifying the best and brightest and educating them well. He had in mind folks like his mentor, Benjamin Franklin, who had risen through hard work, talent and skill as opposed to being born into wealth and privilege. For Jefferson and Franklin, one step crucial in creating a genuine meritocracy was to ensure both rich and poor had equal access to a good education. Otherwise, a disparity between rich and poor results.

The Friends of the Shafter Library obviously understand this crucial fact. This diverse partnership understands that basing success on merit is meaningless if poor folks do not have equal access to the tools necessary to succeed. From America’s inception, disparity existed because various identifiable groups were excluded from obtaining an education. Even when the Constitution was amended following the Civil War, public policy in many areas created segregated schools for Black and other identifiable minority communities, thus ensuring unequal distribution of educational resources.

As the current pandemic highlights, poor communities in America do not have equal access to computers and the internet, critical tools to access knowledge. Fareed Zacaria, in his book, “In Defense of a Liberal Education,” reminds us that reading books remains one of the most important paths to real knowledge. This has been true for centuries and it has not changed.

According to David Franz, the city of Shafter’s education partnership director, 11,500 books were checked out between Jan. 18 and Oct. 28. That is impressive for a community of 20,000 residents. Perhaps, we need to recruit Cal State Bakersfield to join the collaboration and conduct a longitudinal study to determine whether there is a correlation between the number of books checked out and an increase in baccalaureate degree attainment among Shafter’s youth. Likewise, other communities similarly situated can look to the work of the Friends of the Shafter Library as a best practice model to emulate.