A woman in my department at the Denver Public Library sent a link to this opinion piece about libraries by Garrison Keillor (of Prairie Home Companion fame). Mr. Keillor views libraries as a sort of sanctuary from a world that can be pretty ugly (particularly the world of politics), and I'm inclined to agree with him -- to a point.
The atmosphere here in the "main branch" can be intimidating to those who are not seasoned to the seedier aspects of urban life; one former employee here was known to describe the library as "the city's largest homeless shelter", and it's hard to argue with that observation, especially during the winter months. I won't attempt to sugarcoat the many unpleasant and even violently disruptive events that have occurred in recent years at my place of work -- rampant vandalism, drunken disorderly behavior, "misuse" (euphemism of the year!) of computers with internet access, assault, etc. It's all too common in Central, and it can have the unfortunate repercussion of driving patrons away from the positive things our branch has to offer.
Nonetheless, libraries for me have always been a haven. I spent much time in them as a child, and even if I wasn't spending my time as I was supposed to (e.g., checking out fiction or personal interest nonfiction instead of doing research for yet another dull school assignment), I truly felt at home. Where else could an introverted misfit bookworm such as myself bask in the glow of so much literature? (Mind you, this was well before the advent of such big-box bookstores as Borders or Barnes and Noble).
Anyway, I suppose it's no accident that I ended up working in a library, although to be honest I never really considered it as an option prior to taking my current position in March of 2002. So more power to Keillor, more power to me *grin*, and please support your local libraries -- regardless of how many sketchy types you may find hanging out in them on occasion. Libraries are an extremely valuable resource and they must be cherished! Thank you. :-)
5 comments:
As a mom, I am impressed with the quality of children's sections of many libraries today. In Phoenix and Greeley we had phenomenal library services. There were preschool and toddler programs during the week, story times for all ages, arts and crafts,classes, puppeteers, and more. They got children excited about reading ...and best of all it was free! I hope your local library has a fun section for kids too. Simon is bound to be a book-lover like his mom and dad! :)
Thanks for the reminder...I have been meaning to take Max to his first storytime at our local library. I'll have to look up the dates for the summer.
I love libraries! I have gotten into reading again since I've had Max (nap time is great for this, plus I like to give Max a little bit of time each day to use his own imagination and let him go it on his own with his toys. He's pretty good about it as long as I am nearby and so I use that time to read). I am also excited for Max to get older so that we can check out longer books to read together. For now he has TONS of good board books to keep him reading - or listening to me read - for as long as his attention span will carry him. I hope that he inherits from his parents a love for a good book!
Be careful at that library, Wendi! I hope you carry some mace or something. Who knew it could be so dangerous?
Wendi thanks for the blog. We have two libraries that we can use and we try to use them as much as possible. One of them is BYU’s gigantic monster of a library and the other is Provo’s city library. Although BYU’s doesn’t have any “sketchy” types hanging around it, Provo’s is like the homeless capital of Provo. I guess I can understand why that is, but it hasn’t stopped us from using it, I mean they have free DVD rentals there. And I guess they have some books also. Actually, Kristen has and will make use of the many children books for her classes. But still, what do you think can be done about making them safer places to be, or at least make us feel safer when we use them?
Great op-ed piece from Mr. Keillor, and I enjoyed your own ruminations just as much.
It has been interesting to watch libraries evolve in my lifetime as our society transitions from a paper to a digital society. Undoubtedly the library services that are most highly utilized nowadays are the internet portals and DVD collections, (especially by Drew and Kristen.)
But there is still a magic in lifting a yellowing book deep from within the stacks, dusting it off, and exploring what secrets it holds. And there is something tangible and permanent about holding a book in your hands . . . all the information available on the internet can't re-create that feeling.
(I had to smile when reading Elizabeth's comments. Her praising of Glendale and Greeley's libraries was a circuitous way of stating an unfortunate fact: Worland's library stinks and is run by Nazi Cavewomen. They didn't get the memo about the transition to the digital age . . .:)
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