The Modern Library
I’d like to say some things about what I think a sacred, but overlooked, and dwindling institution can do to revitalize itself in the day of the information superhighway. First, let’s get something straight. People have had the opportunity to educate themselves, by visiting the local public lending library, for a long time (a generation at least), yet very few choose to do so. For myself, the information that I can get about computer science and software design is better online, both in quantity and quality. So, I can readily understand why, today, libraries are grossly underused. However, that doesn’t explain why, even for my parents generation libraries went largely unused. Let’s take a brief look at where libraries have come from, and what they can do to adapt and remain relevant.
How far back does this institution go? Well, obviously the most famous library was that of Alexandria in Ancient Egypt, founded sometime in the 3rd century BC.
The library comprised a Peripatos walk, gardens, a room for shared dining, a reading room, lecture halls and meeting rooms. However, the exact layout is not known. This model’s influence may still be seen today in the layout of university campuses.
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Other than collecting works from the past, the library was also home to a host of international scholars, well-patronized by the Ptolemaic dynasty with travel, lodging and stipends for their whole families. As a research institution, the library filled its stacks with new works in mathematics, astronomy, physics, natural sciences and other subjects. Its empirical standards applied in one of the first and certainly strongest homes for serious textual criticism.[citation needed] As the same text often existed in several different versions, comparative textual criticism was crucial for ensuring their veracity. Once ascertained, canonical copies would then be made for scholars, royalty and wealthy bibliophiles the world over, this commerce bringing income to the library.
Elsewhere, in the Roman Empire, “most of the large Roman baths were also cultural centers, built from the start with a library, a two room arrangement with one room for Greek and one for Latin texts.”[1]. We should note a key feature here, that the Libraries functioned as a hangout, where one could share ideas with and learn from others.
Skipping ahead (past the Dark Ages where libraries remained principally in the hands of a church or monastic order, and held religious works in preference to ancient scripts, but were not of any use to an illiterate peasantry) to the early 18th Century, we find that libraries have found a way to commercialize themselves.
Circulating libraries were not in the business of preserving books; their owners wanted to lend books as many times as they possibly could. Circulating libraries had ushered in a completely new way of reading.[2] Reading was no longer simply an academic pursuit or an attempt to gain spiritual guidance. Reading became a social activity. Many circulating libraries were attached to the shops of milliners or drapers. They served as much for social gossip and the meeting of friends as coffee shops do today.[3]
This is what I would like to return to. The modern library should not focus itself on lending books, dvds, music, novels, etc. Nor should it focus on providing internet access and publication abilities to the homeless. Rather, it should leverage these resources as a way to draw in a clientele of people interested in learning. Libraries should seek to be cultural centers where people interested in education can easily meet each other and share ideas and experiences.
Steps that can be taken to become a cultural center:
- Host lectures and seminars (with generous discussion time scheduled at the end).
- Encourage cultural activities, host clubs.
- Provide an exceptionally nice place to hang out and share information. Comfy chairs and conversation/debate are a must.
- Don’t make the entirely library a hushed environment.
- Provide easy access to areas for discussion.
- Experiment with enticements to stay: have a coffee bar. Maybe instead of lending freely, charge a fee. Thus encouraging patrons to stay in the reading room.
- Bait people with the books and information, but switch their ideas of what a library offers.
- Advertise. Advertise. Advertise.
It’s very interesting to note though. That although it might seem that Libraries are in direct competition with the internet, university students don’t know how to search and never look to the library staff for guidance! The general populace is not aware of the value that libraries can add to the information access they already provide. Without instituting some of the above changes, our libraries will continue to face budget declines and cutbacks.
My vision of the modern library is more than books and information, it’s about cultivating minds and a community of learning.
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[2] Irwin, Raymond (1964) The Heritage of the English Library. London: George Allen & Unwin; p. 275–276