Knowledge is power. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Books can take us out of this world and take us on wild adventures, the likes of which we could scarcely imagine on our own. Books can also give us a more profound connection/understanding to the world around us by arming us with the knowledge to best deal with it and its various possible assaults, whether physical, mental, or a combination of the two. If one is diligent and determined enough, there’s no telling how many secrets, both fantastical and practical, one may discover if they sustain a curious mind and keep flipping through pages.

Libraries are the cornerstone of tangible knowledge in the modern world (the internet is the cornerstone of all knowledge in the modern world). Yet, people generally don’t tend to take advantage of all the resources, literary and otherwise. My hope is by the time you finish this you’ll have found a brand new appreciation for libraries because one thing is for certain: the libraries in Buffalo Niagara are plentiful, so that means there are tons of opportunities to soak up knowledge.

Look, I get it. Many of us have spent a lot of the last year in our houses. The weather is finally getting nice (supposedly), and here I am telling you that you should go back inside and read books instead of frolicking about eating ice cream and causing property damage opening fire hydrants. I know on its face it sounds ludicrous, but bear with me, I’m going to attempt to erase any misconceptions you might have about libraries.

When you close your eyes and envision a library, what immediately comes to mind? Is it anything close to a dimly lit room filled with wood shelves with those strange valve things on the back (that no one but employees know what it actually does) and dusty books – with some sort of omnipotent old person periodically glaring menacingly at people seated, to the point they’re scared to utter a whisper and continue to read in complete silence as a means to remain undetected until they finally decide to get up and leave.

If your mental picture resembled something like that, then I have some news for you my friend: you’ve been watching a few too many movies. And I should know, I watch a lot of movies. Take my experience with the Central Library in downtown Buffalo, for example. I’m pretty biased because I’ve been going there for years, so excuse me as I put on my rose-colored glasses and regale you about my good times at the library!

The Central Library in downtown Buffalo is a lot of things. It’s pretty much dead center in the city (please don’t make me take out a longitude and latitude map to prove it. Just take my word for it, please). It’s got numerous books that would take anyone every day of at least a few years to get through if they were determined to read everything. There’s an indoor cafe if you want an overpriced cappuccino to go with your reading of Walt Whitman. There’s a wide selection of audiobooks on top of graphic novels. There’s an archive of old print media (for those prone to solving cold cases in their spare time). There’s even a media room with a very respectable collection of DVDs and CDs, and I love it!

It could be that stuff just caters to me, but I always sink in at least a few hours every time I go to the Central Library. Meeting someone for a meeting over overpriced Frappuccino’s, discovering a new graphic novel, but in all honesty, the media room is my Holy Grail. I get not everyone gets super elated over borrowing a copy of the Criterion release of Crumb on Blu Ray, but this guy sure does. That’s not even mentioning the infinite possibilities one may discover while talking to fellow library attendees. Usually a consistent library attendee is someone who really enjoys books or the concept of free, and in a lot of cases both, so there’s usually quite a lot for people to talk about.

At best, all these aspects added up to make every trip to any of the libraries in Buffalo Niagara a great discovery, and at worst, a starting point onto something new. I choose the Central Library as an example because it is the one I frequent the most, but also since it is the Central Library, it mirrors most of the amenities the other libraries in Buffalo Niagara have. Everything I mentioned are all shared aspects of a great library.

My guess is with the dominant influence of the internet taking a real hold in the early 2000s, libraries had to become more modern in order to keep the public’s interest and thus maintain funding. That’s why all libraries have computer rooms and media rooms, physical books and audio, all for the sake of convenience and choice for those who go. When it boils down to it, all I can say is if you’re not taking advantage of the local libraries in Buffalo Niagara, then you’re doing yourself a huge disservice and missing out on more than you could imagine.

It’s said that famed French New Wave director François Truffaut and Pulitzer prize-winning American playwright August Wilson gained their entire education from the library. Both cases took place in the 1950s, so technology was not where it is today. Granted, both men are cases of highly motivated individuals but, if the library got them started down the road that would eventually lead them to accomplish the feats they did later in life, then we could all use a little more library in our lives. Without a computer present, imagine how much you can get done now!

Please, if you’re so inclined, visit one of the local libraries in Buffalo Niagara. Please take it in. You don’t have to spend all day there making friends with the nice little old lady librarian (although you should; I hear she’s a master conversationalist). All I ask is that you allow yourself to get pulled in one of the many directions the library has to offer. I can’t say which one you’ll gravitate towards, but I can promise you whichever it may be, whether it’s DVDs to physical books, you’re in for a whole new world of discovery!