Hey Nikki @h3y-nikki - Tumblr Blog

This thread is fantastic, it’s completely worth it to go through for some of the replies.

what if public libraries were open late every night so that:

- children and teens who cant get home until a later time have a safe, warm, well lit, populated area to socialize, charge devices, rest, etc

- children and teens have a safe place to go to stay away from danger

- people who have jobs that take up most of the day would still have time ANY DAY OF THE WEEK to go use the libraries facilities (printing, computers, etc)

raptorkin

This is exactly what public libraries are trying to achieve - public libraries as a third place is a whole thing - it’s just that the funding isn’t there (yet).

captaindibbzy

Libraries need and deserve so much funding

entamewitchlulu

I’m going to apologize if this post comes off as sounding very aggressive, but having just been through one of the most stressful experiences of my entire career in libraries:

if you want this, you need to be at your local community government meetings. you need to be talking to your representatives. you need to be out there Lobbying.

Just a few weeks ago, my library, me, my coworkers, we had to write letters, send emails, make phone calls, speak at council meetings, just to beg our aldermen to give us our usual funding. Which they didn’t even give to us last year. Losing last year’s funding forced us to cut staff, hours, and all of our databases. If we’d lost this year’s funding? two positions would have been gone and we would have likely had to close on Saturdays. On Saturdays. The day of the week most of y’all working M-F jobs actually have time to go to the fucking library.

And do you want to know how much money we were asking? We were asking for an increase of approximately 13 cents a person.

13.

Fucking.

Cents.

ACROSS AN ENTIRE YEAR.

No one seems to understand how libraries are funded. It’s not just Free Stuff. It’s your tax dollars being paid back into your community. It’s crowdfunding. The highest cost anyone in my community pays for the library a year is approximately $250. Divide that up. That’s just $4 a week. That’s less than a coffee. It’s the equivalent of purchasing about 10 hardcover books a year. For that price, you could have access to every book that has ever been written, a place to go that’s not a bar, programs for kids, teens, and adults, educated staff that can help you find the answers to your questions, and so much more.

You want these late-night libraries? You want all this stuff? Start fighting for it. Start showing up. Start making phone calls. It’s not going to come out of thin air. Start fighting to erase the idea that taxes = evil. Start fighting to spread the understanding that taxes are what help us build a better society.

Make sure the people who represent you know that you want this. That this is where you want your tax dollars to go. That this is what you want them to support. That you are willing to see your tax bill go up a few more dollars for this.

Because otherwise? None of this is going to happen. Libraries are going to keep cutting their opening hours. Keep cutting staff. Keep cutting programs and databases and collections.

We NEED your support, and we need more than just a post on Tumblr. We need to see people show up and speak out.

tumbleweedwritesdanfics

argumate

she had the face of an angel, a snow angel though

argumate

he had a body you’d expect to fish out of the river

argumate

her voice reminded you of why you left her in the first place, as she patiently listed all the reasons why you left her in the first place.

argumate

he had a face you’d want to punch, not because there was anything wrong with the face itself, but just because it was his and he was a dick.

argumate

ironically after all this time spent rebelling against her upbringing she had turned out exactly like her mother: an adult woman.

argumate

it was an ordinary Tuesday when you walked into my office, feeling vaguely uneasy about the use of the second person perspective.

catchymemes

tin-am

Same energy but… different

stuart-townsend

Jake Gyllenhaal as Mr. Music in John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch (2019)

catsbeaversandducks

This speech-language pathologist taught her dog 29 words, and he can even form full sentences.

Video by Christina Hunger

trustmeimanengiqueer

jenniferrpovey

Dogs actually do have a language center in their brains. They process language just the same way we do, just not as well.

They do understand our words. This is not true of all domesticated animals (horses, for example, can only manage to distinguish a relatively small number of spoken commands…but boy do they know what you’re really saying).

They don’t understand “just your tone of voice” as a lot of people think.

As of 2016 the record vocabulary for a dog demonstrating understanding of words is over 1,000.

So if you give them a way to talk back, they’re going to use it.

The development of language skills is probably a side effect of domestication and of being kept in close contact with humans. A dog that was a better hunting partner would be kept and bred and over time they developed a better understanding of language.

In other words, dogs are pretty dang smart because we need them to understand us.

And also that is a very good boy.

sandersstudies

^ Would like to agree and make one amendment - very good GIRL. This is Stella the dog!

Check out the owner Christina’s Instagram: one of the first things I saw was a video where the dog started barking and, when prompted by the owner, said “outside, look look look look look look look, come outside.” Which is basically exactly how one would expect a dog to speak.

The owner described bringing an unknown package into the house, and the dog ran away to push the buttons for “help no no help help” which is also about what I expect goes on in a scared pup’s mind.

In another video, the dog tried to push a button, and the button wasn’t working. The dog paused and then pushed the buttons for “No. Help.”

In yet another (which the owner seemed impressed by), Stella said “come eat come play.” The owner asked the dog which she wanted to do, to eat or to play? And the dog clarified “come eat.” After eating, then the dog tried to instigate play. So the dog may have been able to understand a short spoken question, and how “questions and answers” work, and also understands sequences, even if she can’t express them (”I want to eat, THEN I want to play”)

Stella can even recount short-term memories, like when her family returned from the beach for dinner and she said “water good, no eat, play”

By the way, the owner uses the buttons as well, which probably really helps reinforce their meaning. She uses them to say things like “Stella all done eat” or “Stella and Christina go outside, bye!”

Wanna know my favorite part? Stella sometimes pushes the buttons for “Stella good” when she’s done a good job. Stella IS good! :D She also makes phrases using “love you,” like “Christina, love you, come play!”