GREENFIELD — Library directors from the area gathered on Monday to tell their stories on what it means to be a librarian in 2025.

The Greenfield Garden Cinemas hosted a screening of the PBS documentary “Free for All: The Public Library,” and a panel discussion covering topics such as budget challenges, book bannings, accessibility and the growing need for libraries to house health and welfare resources.

“It’s really been a roller coaster to be a librarian a these days,” said Chelsea Jordan-Makely, director of the Griswold Memorial Library in Colrain. “It’s become kinda commonplace how we volley around this term ‘unprecedented’ but when I was in library school I never thought I’d have to deal with book challenges ever. Then you watch this film and realize no these things have never been taken for granted and access to information has always been contested.”

Since the first American public library opened its doors in the late 1700s libraries have served as institutions of knowledge, but have always faced challenges on who should be allowed to access the books and what information is stored in them. The PBS documentary told stories of challenges during segregation, the women’s rights movement, the Red Scare, end even in modern books such as “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling or “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell have been challenged in some libraries for promoting witchcraft and LGBTQ themes to children.

Panelists said that even in Franklin County, library contents have been questioned, but strict review policies to address questioned materials and library training includes learning how to review books and determine how to build a collection. At the end of the day it is up to the parent or caregiver to monitor the material their children access.

“My staff don’t read every single book on our shelves, they can’t, they just don’t have time,” Greenfield Public Library Director Anna Bognolo said.

The librarians noted that libraries are much more than just books; they house movies, newspapers, events and programs and access and information to additional services. Northfield’s Dickinson Memorial Library has a “Library of Things” featuring garden tools, Wifi hotspots and other unique items. Colrain’s Griswold Memorial Library has a personal hygiene closet, with shampoo, toothbrushes, feminine products and more. The Greenfield Public Library has a food pantry and the Erving Public Library offers after-school snacks.

Panelists said libraries are built to serve their communities and their unique needs and challenges, which is why more and more libraries are offering untraditional items and why librarians are increasingly being tasked with helping patrons seeking housing, food and other social services.

Sandra Erdelez, Dean of Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science, which is housed at Greenfield Community College, said it has become so common for patrons to seek social services at libraries that the library school offers a course on the use of social services in libraries.

“We have to go beyond our library work and be trained to listen and to understand about how we can serve our unique, diverse populations,” Bognolo said.

“Library science is a social science. We’re operating within the economic constraints and everything that’s happening in our country at all times,” Jordan-Makely added. “I want my library to be a place where people come; actually to quote a patron this week, she said, ‘I come here to get rid of my stress.’ We want to help make life easier for people.”

Part of easing life’s hardships for patrons is ensuring libraries are accessible for all, panelists said. At Erving’s Public Library, Director Abigail Baines said they have been working to hold events and create a space that is welcoming to everyone, with both visible and invisible disabilities, including purchasing more audiobooks, and sensory friendly spaces.

At Greenfield’s new public library, accessibility meant wheelchair accessible changing tables in the bathrooms, and buttons that can open doors. And in the older libraries across the county, accessibility means incremental work to update old buildings, and ensure signs, printouts and website and social media posts are accessible with clear text and photo captions.

“If there’s a bump in the floor that’s going to cost the library many dollars to fix because it’s a marble floor. So there’s those big things that feel not undoable, but like big challenges,” Northfields Dickenson Memorial Library Directory Misha Storm said. “So day-to-day I try to focus on the things that we can do.”

The libraries do all this and more, the panelists said, while balancing small budgets in their rural communities. They do so by leveraging grants, partnerships with community organizations, and with the help of state and federal grants. Massachusetts Library Commissioner Tim Cherubini said the library commission is always reviewing legislation to see how and if it will impact available funding for libraries, and looking for all available funding to support the mission of public libraries.

“We’re always looking for other opportunities,” Cherubini said.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com