Library as community center

When I was growing up, my mother would take my sister and I for weekly library trips. I always looked forward to these chances to browse the stacks, perusing and selecting an armload of new books to enjoy. In the summertimes, we would visit the library in the middle of our pool days, since the municipal plaza held the borough pool, tennis courts, library, police station, and borough offices.
When I got older, my friends and I would meet to do research on school projects. The librarians were always so helpful and never seemed to mind when we'd get a little bit silly.
I love the ways that libraries serve as community centers. I know that the libraries in the surrounding communities offer many enticing programs: children's, tweens and teens book clubs, a speaker series, travelogues, literacy training, seminars in internet safety, technology training for retirees, CPR certification, the works.
The idea of digital libraries can take this concept of the library as a beacon of community growth and development to new heights. John Willinsky really focuses on the concept of the library as a tool for social activism in his book The Access Principle. It excites me to think about the ways that I might contribute to improving the lives of others by serving as a librarian.