Where the facts take us

Sometimes, we launch into a story thinking we know where it will go, only to learn that our assumptions are wrong. Occasionally, our misconceptions can be a story in itself.

Last week, the RAND Corporation published a report with the snappy title, “Libraries Can Be Hubs for Mental Health Supports; Approach Could Aid Care in Rural Communities.” The study highlights the success of Libraries for Health (L4H), a pilot initiative that placed mental health resources and trained peer specialists into 10 rural libraries across Central Texas. Conceived by St. David’s, a non-profit health Foundation, the three-year project set out to fill longstanding gaps in rural mental health care by leaning on a trusted community asset—the local library.

The effort proved effective. Library patrons and staff alike embraced the expanded role, describing their libraries as welcoming, stigma-free environments where people could access stress-reduction programs, caregiver support and even clinical referrals. Partnering with the nonprofit Via Hope, libraries hosted programming and trained peer specialists to engage their communities.

While the report didn’t attempt to measure changes in mental health outcomes, qualitative feedback was overwhelmingly positive. RAND has since released a toolkit based on the project, offering a roadmap for other rural communities.

When we first encountered the story, it fit neatly with a pair of assumptions: first, that rural mental health services are badly strained; and second, that libraries—once central to civic life—have struggled to remain relevant in the internet age. Both observations are largely true, but what we didn’t expect to find was a comeback story.

After years of decline driven by the rise of eBooks, digital media, and changing consumer habits, library usage is again on the rise. According to the American Library Association, in-person visits and program attendance have increased nationally since 2022, while digital lending through services like Libby and Hoopla continues to grow. In response to modern challenges, libraries have reinvented themselves—not just as repositories of books, but as hubs of community connection, learning, and access to services (like mental health counseling). Some now offer job training, tech access, educational programs, and even climate relief centers. Their quiet presence in American life is being rediscovered by a generation looking for connection and credibility in a fragmented information landscape.

We can think of other types of programming that might be a better long-term fit for libraries than mental health services—but if that’s what it takes to keep a public library viable, we would support it. As our dated perceptions catch up with a newer reality, we are pleased to learn that libraries are not in desperate decline. They’re adapting. They’re serving and in many cases, they’re thriving.

This is good news and we are happy to report it—even when our assumptions turn out to be altogether wrong.