Language. It is at the core of our American culture. Libraries not only preserve it, they celebrate it and contribute to solving many of the problems in our society with it. For 23 years, I have worked in libraries in some capacity whether it was shelving books, checking books out at the circulation desk, working at the teen desk, answering questions as an adult librarian, or providing operational leadership as senior librarian.

All of my earlier experience brought me here three years ago to my current position as executive director of the Parkland Community Library.

During those years, I have been privy to the many changes as to how libraries function.

The end of the card catalog system, in drawers, was part of a major passage for librarians all over the world.

We witnessed a huge transition to the digital age, as all other industries and professions have seen.

Today, a public library operates with computerized catalogs, offers computers for public use and connections to the Internet and WiFi for free, loans videos and books on tape and CDs and video games and DVD's books on CD, and, finally, provides downloadables of everything – for free.

No longer does anyone have to subscribe to a magazine with a library card in hand. No longer does anyone have to visit the library for services with downloadable connections, if there is a computer at home.

When used properly, a library can save the average resident hundreds of dollars every year as a place where resources are shared.

Libraries have come a long way from the library my father used to visit as a child. The library is no longer entirely quiet.

There are now children's spaces in some areas where play with toys increases motor skills and is encouraged.

There are story times and other programming that includes music and even dancing. There are library professionals helping to fill out job applications online or helping to find books for school projects.

One thing remains unchanged: the public's need for a place to share in literary pursuit, for business or for pleasure, for education or avocation – and at minimal cost shared by the community.

Libraries have changed, there is no doubt. But they are not a thing of the past. They are not obsolete.

Increasingly, they fill voids left by our communities. In Allentown, for instance, the library on Hamilton Street is a major resource for the many residents in need of learning English as a second language, or to provide computer services not in the homes of almost half the students who attend school there.

On Long Island, the library where I worked in circulation, was a place for intellectuals and the impoverished alike.

For Parkland, where there are at least 15 small villages and no town center, the school district does an outstanding job at creating a genuine spirit of community.

Parkland Community Library is a vibrant place today, filled to overcapacity, because it too serves as a center for residents who need this resource. It is the reason it was founded 40 years ago in Guthsville (and I might add, the current Walbert location will remain open as the South Whitehall branch for those who are habitually tied to its convenient location).

Libraries will always be relevant as long as there are students who need to do research for a school report; that includes evening and weekends when school libraries are closed.

Who else uses libraries? Senior citizens who love to read and prefer a book to an eReader device or who are on a fixed income and don't purchase books on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble; residents in need of learning English as a second language; teenagers in summer looking for a place to volunteer their time; mothers of young children seeking stimulating intellectual activities for their toddlers; small businesses doing competitive research.

We serve them all, unequivocally.

Libraries will always be relevant as long as there are always those in the community who do not have a computer or access to the Internet.

Many think this couldn't possibly be in Parkland, but I am here to tell you our eight public computers are almost always filled to capacity. We can use three times the number of computers here today.

With 35 percent of Parkland families' members of the library, I encourage you as a Parkland resident to think not only about what a library is for you and your family but what it means for others in the Parkland community. This library isn't about individuals, it's about the community. The Parkland community deserves to have a state-of-the-art library that accommodates this growing population.

Patrons deserve to know there will be available parking when they arrive; that the book desired isn't in a storage facility but there for the asking.

Parkland pride also should be on the line as well. We should not be the last library in this Lehigh Valley community with the lowest amount per capita spent out of all libraries here, but a first rate facility exceptional in its offerings to the community.

Libraries will always be changing, adapting and inclusive in their service to the community.

I hope you will consider not only your feelings about libraries but also those around you who make up the Parkland community when you vote Nov. 5 for a new facility in Upper Macungie Township (less than five miles from our current site).

In the meantime, please stop in and I will show you the state of the current Parkland Community Library and what it can be with your support.

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Debbie Jack was named executive director of Parkland Community Library in 2011. Prior to this, she served as senior reference librarian in the Sussex County, New Jersey Library System. She earned an associate's degree in science laboratory technology from Suffolk County Community College; a bachelor's degree in human relations from St. Joseph's College; and a master's degree in library science from Long Island University.