Who wants to come in third place? Well, probably nobody but increasingly it seems that having a third place is not only valuable but almost essential to human connections - yet it's also something that seems to be missing in many modern neighborhoods.
What Is a Third Place? Loosely defined, a third place is someplace that is neither work/school nor home. It is often where people gather for companionship and feeling part of their community. Ideally, the third place should not require a (significant) financial commitment, and should encourage various community members to participate freely.
For some people, their third place can be church or religious services. For others, it can be volunteer service or a gym. Open space parks can sometimes make for a third space, given good weather. However, it can be increasingly hard to find a third place that is free/inexpensive and meets the needs of the larger community and its members.
Why Libraries? Your public library might be the ideal third place for you! Libraries are open to all members of the community. Libraries do not require a membership or any payment. One does not need to be of a certain age, religion, culture, education level, physical condition, or socioeconomic level to access the library.
In addition to being a gathering place, public libraries also offer programming, materials, resources and access to information - helping this third place to strengthen community involvement and increase knowledge.
Why Is It Important? In the United Kingdom, recent refugees noted that the library was a place of peace, even if their housing was not. Researchers found that in addition to finding peace in the surroundings of the library, participants in their study also noted that in the library, they had access to community resources, including classes to learn English and staff members who were willing to help (Biglin).
One of the most long-lasting impacts of the Covid pandemic was the loss of many "third places" in our communities. Suddenly, most people were not able to access these places of community involvement - some in addition to the loss of their second place (work or school). Researchers in the city of Bonn, Germany noted that while many libraries were able to quickly shift their focus to providing e-materials or safely circulate hard materials, the loss of the library space as a "third place" was not able to be duplicated in other forms (Thiele).
Sum It Up. When you put all of it together, it is clear that we all need and benefit from third places in our communities - and our public libraries are the first place many seek this out.
Works Cited
Biglin, Josephine. “Photovoice Accounts of Third Places: Refugee and Asylum Seeker Populations’ Experiences of Therapeutic Space.” Health & Place, vol. 71, 2021, pp. 102663–102663, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102663.
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