You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone: Why Saving Libraries Is Saving America

In a time when government programs face deep cuts and disinformation floods the internet, one institution still offers free access to knowledge, community, and opportunity: your local public library. On The Good Government Show, host Dave Martin takes listeners on a tour of the Fairfield, Connecticut Public Library—and what he uncovers is nothing short of a masterclass in quiet civic heroism.

“Libraries are the frontline of democracy,” says Scott Jarzombek, Fairfield’s town librarian and president of the Connecticut Library Association. “If everyone doesn’t have access to the same information—whether through a book or a broadband connection—we don’t have an equal society.” With federal funding under threat and censorship battles growing more intense, this episode sounds a passionate alarm: libraries are under siege.

But the show doesn’t just focus on budgets and book bans. It’s full of voices from everyday users who rely on the library for reasons as varied as job hunting, tutoring, health services, or simply finding a safe, quiet space. One student, Avy Monyhan, puts it best: “I need a library. I think everybody does.” Another patron, Adam Crook, who is experiencing homelessness, describes the library as his “only option to stay connected.”

Martin highlights just how vast the services are—autism sensory kits, memory therapy for seniors, computer help, even maker spaces and community concerts. The children’s section, designed to reflect the town of Fairfield, includes areas like “The Farm” and “The Castle,” helping build early literacy through immersive storytelling. “If we lose libraries,” Martin says, “we lose more than a building—we lose what makes America great.”

As local governments draft their next budgets, this episode is a rallying cry: Fund your library. Show up at board meetings. Write your councilmember. Because as Scott Jarzombek says, “Libraries aren’t good government. They are the best of government.”