New Library Times
Update: Philadephia Library System Saved via massive letter-writing and email campaign just days before closure!
(Via savvy commenter Rose and BoingBoing)
This makes me so incredibly happy, especially since my dear Philadelphia-based friends Susan and Josh just gave birth this morning to two beautiful babies, Sam and Olivia, who will one day soon be going to the library.
: end update
On Sunday I read that the Philadephia Free Library system is broke and will be shut down as of October 2. Reports BoingBoing, they are “cancelling all branch and regional library programs, programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults” and “all children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs” and “all library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers” and “all community meetings” and “all GED, ABE and ESL programs.”
Cory Doctorow points out the enormous list of ongoing services and indirect functions performed by the library system, and what a great loss it is to a community, particularly the most vulnerable and impressionable. A man after my own heart, Doctorow invokes the wonder of the reading experience, and gives me goosebumps describing the heroic qualities imbued in librarians throughout history, “Think of the archivists who barricaded themselves in the Hermitage during the Siege of Leningrad, slowly starving and freezing to death but refusing to desert their posts for fear that the collections they guarded would become firewood.”
Shudder. Shudder to think. Shuttering libraries because zillions of Americans inside and outside industries failed to read and understand fine print. Failed to see where the action was taking them. Failed to exercise critical thinking, independent studies, failing still to compare and contrast, failing to learn, failing to be decent citizens, failing to nurture and forward civilization itself.
I learned just yesterday, as part of an events list on Time Out New York of all places (I’m not shocked, as they’re always chock full of great info about their home cities, I’m just chuckling because I just mentioned that whole “civilization” thing and if civilization hinges on Time Out New York well, that’s saying something about how and why any publication manages to exist.) that the New York City Public Library is extending their hours:
“Speaking of the public good, the New York City Public Library begins its all-new extended hours today—a dream come true for free-Wi-Fi users and people who like to sleep in public places. The change initially affects ten branches, including the Mid-Manhattan Library (455 Fifth Ave at 40th St; 917-275-6975, nypl.org), which will stay open until 11pm. A special “Cover to Cover Café” at this location will offer free coffee and snacks from Tim Hortons all day and an 8pm performance from Bushwick Book Club, a group of songwriters who take their inspiration from literary works.”
It’s funny, but this ebb and flow echoes Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town” in my head. It’s the title of one of Cory Doctorow’s books, though I haven’t read the book itself yet (still on my Amazon wish list btw, just sayin’ ;).
From what I’ve seen, in many parts of our country libraries are still reasonably-funded institutions, with glossy modern buildings, generous free wi-fi, and healthy traffic generated by the free loan of media such as music and movies. I don’t have a problem with that at all. It’s just, that’s not all it’s for. And these modern places are so much more like bookstores with their open layouts and grocery-store style displays of a few colorful items. Libraries, in my ideal world, would always be places that encourage thinking, demand a bit of hunting and gathering, demand a bit of planning or inspiration, and allow one to become lost in those endeavors.
Even though I don’t currently spend much time in the Manhattan branches (we have a glorious handful here in Brooklyn), I suddenly want to have hot date nights that involve staying late at the library on Fifth Avenue.
Man, libraries are sexy. All that stifled quiet. The creaking of chairs. The slam of a heavy book being closed, the thud or smack of a book dropped onto a table. The sound that paper makes. For the library, one might consider wearing stockings.
Eh hem. Well then. Yes. As I was saying, gentlefolk.
A bookstore-like setup precludes the hunting, the wondering and wandering, but at least helps visitors feel less lost. Though I am still confounded by unfortunate archival systems and closed computer terminals that scour for periodicals. Microfiche, if still around, discourages research, but the internet makes that less of a problem than even in say, my college days (in the early to mid 90s). Real scholarly research is still a challenge to anyone without professional or institutional subscriptions. This past spring, I remember working on my thesis, and more than once finding an article that sounded promising, and seeing that I could only gain access to its contents if I paid a disproportionate amount of money to do so ($60, $180 just to read it), or signed up for a subscription that I was not interested in. Physical libraries are even worse: materials are not there, or not accessible, as far as anyone can tell. Can any librarians confirm or explain this?
This problem of available scholarly writing is worthy of its own post, but I find it heartening and refreshing that just yesterday in response to the financial and publishing climate, Harvard University Library posted the news that “Five of the nation’s premier institutions of higher learning—Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley—today announced their joint commitment to a compact for open-access publication.” Read in more detail, news and statements from the other universities over on Harvard’s website. This exciting news came from Chandler McWilliams, writer of brysonian.com.
Get thee to a library!
Oh yes, I saw this news and mourned it. You’ve covered it all very well, and better than I could, and I thank you for writing it.
As a librarian, I can sort of answer your question about scholarly articles. Usually (well, in my academic library, anyway) if you find an article in a database that you want, but to which the library does not have access, you can request it via interlibrary loan, and get pretty much anything you need. Libraries are really fond of this method, because they can save money by sharing resources. The wait for the material varies depending on your request (journal articles can usually be scanned and emailed to you - novels on the bestseller list will take a much longer time).
I am glad to hear about the New York Public Library. A hot date there sounds just about perfect!
While all the hand-wringing about “bookstore-style” is well and good, have you *been* to the mid-Manhattan library. Barns & Nobles it is not…
Looks like they agreed the new budget, and the library system is staying open.
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