Libraries in the US are filling an affordable fitness void
July 26, 2018 3:00 AM   Subscribe

While national programs haven’t been officially tallied, the research that exists shows library fitness is no small quirk. In 2014, the American Library Association found that about 23 percent of all public libraries offered a fitness class in the last year, while another survey from the same time learned that 37 percent of the libraries they reached out to offered yoga. More than 60 percent of North Carolina library systems offer fitness classes. There’s a lot left to understand about how and why librarians are focusing on physical health and wellness, but the most important thing to know is also the most obvious: The classes are needed.
posted by ellieBOA (15 comments total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
 
In my small town we have a yoga studio that offers classes every weeknight and a weekly evening library yoga class for basically the same price - guess which one is better attended? I think a lot of people consider library fitness classes more accessible for people of differing abilities than going to a gym/yoga studio, and it's definitely something that's easier for out-of-shape me. I only wish we offered more than just yoga.
posted by odd ghost at 3:23 AM on July 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Serious question: why aren't there more public librarians in politics? As a profession, they seem to have a real flair for identifying the needs of their communities and fulfilling them in a cost-effective manner. They're also skilled researchers and organizers, and they're experienced at working with the public.

What we need, is a bibliocracy.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:24 AM on July 26, 2018 [28 favorites]


That’s super interesting, because I’m spending the week at a craft school in rural North Carolina, and they have yoga twice a week. One of the local students mentioned that she had taken yoga with the same teacher and enjoyed it, and I wondered where on earth you take yoga here. I bet they offer it at the library in the nearest sort-of-big town. Cool!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:55 AM on July 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


At the Library I managed offered Yoga classes at $5 a class and free Chair Yoga, both were very popular. We did not have a Yoga studio so that was the only option unless people wanted to drive to the next town over. At my previous Library I had been doing Story Telling Yoga for a decade, which was fun and a great way to involve the whole family in literacy and movement.
posted by saucysault at 5:02 AM on July 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


There are still some locations that still think anything besides books is dangerously avant garde. “Sometimes people are very willing to do movement with young people, but once you start talking about adults, they freeze up or say it’s gone too far,” said Lenstra.

This is the mentality of our local library system here in the Raleigh, NC area. While other library systems have fitness classes, video game lending, tool lending, etc, the Wake County libraries don't even lend videos.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:55 AM on July 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Thanks ellieBOA, I've sent this along to my colleagues where I work. I expect mostly to hear that our email is not the proper forum for this. But I'm old and they think I'm stupid, so I can sometimes get away with things.
posted by evilDoug at 6:17 AM on July 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


The wait list for our library yoga class has a wait list.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:46 AM on July 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


why aren't there more public librarians in politics?

I'm in politics (a little, I'm an elected Justice of the Peace in my small town and sit on some tax boards) and the main thing is... politics is a job. So if you're already a librarian (and those are usually good jobs that people like) why trade it in for something that sucks more?

I love this article, but man that graphic is weird with the animation right over that lady's crotch, no?
posted by jessamyn at 6:59 AM on July 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


Definitely could have been avoided! The squiggly line down the middle is standard with articles on the Outline, which I've really been enjoying since it launched.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:13 AM on July 26, 2018


Serious question: why aren't there more public librarians in politics?

Many of us are introverted, we're not typically paid as well as other professionals (and therefore not positioned as well to e.g. solicit donations from the alumni or bar association), and there's an old idea in librarian ethics that we are studiously objective and neutral (or, as one unintentionally-punk-rock-sounding scholar put it in a touchstone essay, 'no politics, no morals, no religion').

(This is just one strain of thought, not as prevalent as it used to be, and librarians' professional values also include social responsibility and intellectual freedom. Here's a literature review that is probably more than you want to read on the subject of librarians and neutrality.)
posted by box at 7:23 AM on July 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Serious question: why aren't there more public librarians in politics?

I don't know that she has any ambitions in this direction, but I wouldn't mind seeing what Carla Hayden could do in a Cabinet-level post, or maybe the Senate.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:49 AM on July 26, 2018


I went to library school (although I never worked as a librarian, whoops) and one of my library school friends (who did work as a librarian but no longer does, see a pattern here?) is pretty heavily involved in local politics.

Librarians as a general group are big ol' weirdos (seriously, hang out with a big group of them sometime and see) and I love them so, so much, but the kind of personality that is attracted to librarianship isn't really the same sort of personality that would succeed in electoral politics.
posted by Automocar at 8:45 AM on July 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


And if you don’t feel like exercising, you can always go to the library to paint along with the one and only Bob Ross!
posted by TedW at 1:08 PM on July 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Obviously the answer is for elected officials to have an advisory board of librarians to come up with policy
posted by The Whelk at 7:49 PM on July 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Here in Ireland we have a government programme called "Healthy Ireland" and part of it is "Healthy Ireland at your library" (here is the terrible website from Libraries Ireland).
Public libraries have always stocked health books, and have often developed collections with consultation from health professionals, in this case the HSE are helping choose a booklist that every library branch in the country stocks (personally I think that is slightly overkill as some branches are very very small and do not need 30 health titles as that takes up all their non-fiction space) as well as trying to get health-related classes & talks in every library.
There have been many many chair yoga sessions, also mindfulness, diet etc., liaising with sporting organisations and heart check departments.

It makes sense because library buildings are already there, a space that can be used. A wide variety of people use the library, so you've a good audience that'll see your poster for Yoga (or whatever) and it all ties in to the library as a focus for the community.
posted by Fence at 9:44 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older Who knows a mayo addict?   |   Tiny Goat Visits Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments