Bill Cosby: Librarians Are Key

Photos: Erinn Chalene Cosby

What prompted you to shoot the PSAs about libraries?
I volunteered to do two PSAs because I was standing in the middle of a circle of kids when I was last in Detroit—four or five of them—and they were talking about not being able to get the discipline, the major, they wanted in the high school they were attending. And they could not transfer to the high school that offered these particular disciplines, [which were] politics and acting.

I told them that they are disgruntled, that I understand. However, I am warning them that they should not let the opportunity disappear of earning high grades, to study and gain knowledge so they can compete after high school. That grades open the eyes of the dean of admissions or narrows the eyes of the dean of admissions. It also narrows the amount of dollars of the package, the scholarship.

How did you sell them on the value of the public library?
I said that there’s a building, usually one in particular and it sits downtown somewhere, and it’s called the public library. And when you go in there, this place can be as exciting as any football stadium, basketball stadium, hockey arena, baseball stadium. Packed to the gills. Because in the public library, there are computers, books, all kinds of DVDs that can take you any place that a human being has been to, [offer] any kind of instruction that a human being has learned, and how a human being found something. It can take you into the Grand Canyon, and you can find all kind of artifacts and wonderful stories of what these artifacts represent. You can get lost in this place.

How did the students, who were hoping to change schools for their majors, react?
I said, You can find information about politics, young lady. You can find all the information ever written about the first politician, if you go to the library. If you really want to, you don’t have to be shut out. And to the young lady who wants to act, there are tons of book on how to act, DVDs of great actors in film. All you have to do is ask. It’s just as exciting as any of those stadiums. And these librarians and people around, they are so happy to see you. They have cards for you, pamphlets for you. You can walk out loaded.

Did you talk to them about the importance of studying other subjects?
I told them to pay attention to your algebra. Do not let it defeat you, or not think it is important, because if you think like that, then you think you’re not important to yourself.

Do you believe that school libraries can be as vibrant as public branches?
The school libraries don’t have all of those things. That’s up to the schools. Some schools don’t pay attention. It’s the ones that taxpayers are putting their money into where I think kids need to go. Then they can go back and challenge their own school library.

How can parents help persuade their children to go to the library? 
A lot of people were working and earning good money in Detroit, and they have a house, but they don’t have a high school diploma. And then the automobile industry went under and they offered buyouts, and those buyouts are now gone. For them, the library can also be of some help. So grown-ups, go in and there may be a section on industry, a DVD, a computer. So if you’re a parent who's out of work, both you and your son or daughter can get in the car, or on the bus, and they can go off with the librarian to one area and you to the other. Librarians will give you the key.