Do Your Census Today!
Today is National Census Day!
One of the few things that isn’t canceled is the Census. The U.S. Census Bureau is urging residents to complete the Census online or over the phone to lessen the need for in-person, door-to-door outreach while the country grapples with the coronavirus outbreak, preferably by today. It’s available in 13 languages at my2020census.gov or by calling (844) 330-2020. Additional toll-free numbers in other languages can be found online. If you already received a mailer, it contains a Census ID number you can use to log in online, which the Census Bureau recommends as the fastest method. You can still respond online even if you haven’t received the number or lost it. It takes only ten minutes to do and can be done while social distancing at home!
With all the social distancing I have been doing later, it has made me even more grateful for the services supporting my community like grocery stores, pharmacy, and restaurants. I am also thankful for public libraries. Although all of them in my area are closed, my library – bpl.org- offers a wealth of free online resources that are available to me and my community.
All of these things are made possible for communities with accurate counts from the Census.
So, do your census today!
It reminds of a quote from Zadie Smith’s book, Feel Free:
“Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay.”