I came upon two articles today about libraries both written by people who are not librarians but both still manage to have an opinion on what libraries should do and be and the work librarians should perform. It is one thing to be involved in your community public library, working with them to provide the sorts of services the community wants. It is another thing to feel as though you can make blanket statements about what libraries should and should not do when you yourself are not a librarian, do not work in a library, and have no real idea about the sorts of things librarians have been talking about for years. The assumptions non-librarians make about the knowledge, skill and future planning — or lack thereof — of librarians is astonishing. Would anyone dare tell a surgeon or a mechanic how to do their jobs? But yet there seems to be a set of careers, mostly dominated by women (teaching is probably number one) that people, many of whom are of the male persuasion, who have no or little specialization in the field, feel like they have every right to say what libraries should be doing.
It’s really frustrating.
Reinventing the Library by Alberto Manguel is a pretty decent article as far as they go. He recognizes that
Librarians today are forced to take on a variety of functions that their society is too miserly or contemptuous to fulfill, and the use of their scant resources to meet those essential social obligations diminishes their funds for buying new books and other materials. But a library is not a homeless shelter (at the St. Agnes library in New York, I witnessed a librarian explaining to a customer why she could not sleep on the floor), a nursery or a fun fair (the Seneca East Public Library in Attica, Ohio, offers pajama parties), or a prime provider of social support and medical care (which American librarians today nonetheless routinely give).
And that being forced to function in these ways detracts from the core work of libraries: “to see that the collections remain coherent, to sift through catalogues, to help readers read, to read themselves.” For Manguel, libraries are and should remain all about the books.
The other article, a book review written by James Gleick on a book called BiblioTech by John Palfrey. Both express a fear that libraries are forgetting their core values in the face of the digital onslaught. Both recognize the skill of librarians in searching for and curating information. But yet they insist, “A transition to the digital can’t mean shrugging off the worldly embodiments of knowledge, delicate manuscripts and fading photographs and old-fashioned books of paper and glue.” And they are right and librarians care just as much about the physical “embodiments of knowledge” as they do the digital. However, trade-offs must be made. When the library has a database they pay $10,000 a year for to provide access to dozens of journals and they also have to pay sometimes hundreds of dollars a year for a single print journal and no one is using the print journal but people are using the digital one, the print subscription will be canceled. Libraries are nonprofit institutions that rely on the government to fund them and the government these days is rather stingy.
Manguel, Gleick and by extension, Palfrey, do have some valid points, however none of their points are new to librarians who have been discussing them and struggling with them for years. Yet they all make it sound as though their thoughts and opinions are new, that libraries, unanimously agreed to be extremely important, are somehow failing, that if librarians pay attention to their opinions everything will get better. As a librarian I resent that.
I do appreciate feedback and ideas and suggestions. I do think it is important to talk about libraries and the role of libraries in society in widely distributed media like the New York Times. I am glad when someone acknowledges the struggles libraries have with funding and filling needs that we should not have to fill. But I get really tired of people talking so much about what libraries are doing wrong and what they should be doing instead and how we need to operate in order to fulfill our cultural duties.
For once I’d like to see an article in a big daily about what libraries are doing right. Because libraries are doing lots of things right. My neighborhood public library branch is always busy and not just with people using the computers. When I go in to pick up my hold requests there are always people there browsing books and checking out books, reading books. The hold shelves are always stuffed full. It is a vital part of my neighborhood. Why doesn’t someone write about that?
I love it when people write about the good things libraries do. It should happen more! I am absolutely devoted to my library, which I’m happy to say enjoys a substantial amount of local support, and thus gets its funding every time it’s up for renewal, and thus is a really really great library. I wish I could show people our library and everything it does in this community and convince them that libraries are worth investing in.
Anyway. Keep up the good work! LIBRARIES!
LikeLike
Jenny, I think most of us bookish folk are devoted to our libraries. And while Manguel is bookish I seriously doubt that he goes to his neighborhood public library for reading material. I have seen photos of his own personal library and it is huge and gorgeous. My library gets funding too and once, when funds were to be cut, we voted to raise our taxes and give that money directly to the library. My neighborhood branch is one of the busiest in the city and it gladdens my heart. I am very happy to hear you have a thriving library too!
LikeLike
My local library is thriving and filled with people no matter what day of the week I stop by. Yes, they offer internet access and loan CDs, DVDs, and (best of all) audiobooks, but they are still all about books and reading. I am tickled when I spot the huge number of young mothers bringing their toddlers and pre-schoolers by in hopes of sparking a love of reading in the kids. I love knowing that the elderly can get free help at tax time, that all the tax forms and booklets I need are going to be available in the library, that I can order up a book and have it placed on hold from the comfort of my home, and that e-books are more readily available than ever there. It’s all good, and I love the library and the professionals who work there to make it such a great place.
The part of my county taxes that goes toward supporting the Harris County public library system is one of the few taxes I don’t gripe about. I can’t even imagine life without access to a library or two…
LikeLike
Sam, yeah, same here, in spite of all the other services my library offers, it remains at its core about books and reading. And yes, sometimes those books are audiobooks and sometimes they are ebooks, but they are still books! I’ve never griped about library taxes either and have even voted to increase them. So glad to hear you have such a thriving library!
LikeLike
I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO IF IT WASN.T FOR THE LIBRARY. AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, THE LIBRARY FILLS THE BILL WITH ALL SORTS OF AMENITIES. EVERY TIME I HAVE HAD A QUESTION, ABOUT ANYTHING, THE LIBRARIAN HAS FOLLOWED THE ADAGE, ‘ I DON’T KNOW…BUT I WILL FIND OUT FOR YOU’. FUNDING CAN ALWAYS BE IMPROVED….I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE CITY, COUNTY, AND PATRONS PROVIDE MORE DOLLARS FOR LIBRARY PROGRAMS, SALARIES, AND NECESSARY UPGRADES, ALTHOUGH ‘CHANGE FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE’, IS NOT ALWAYS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE LIBRARIES OR IT’S PATRONS. DO KEEP US INFORMED AS TO YOUR CONCERNS AND NEEDS, AS WE, THE PATRONS, WILL SUPPORT YOU FINANCIALLY AND MORALLY.
LikeLike
waddlesbluhealer, I’ve been going to the library since before I went to kindergarten. It has always been a magical place and continues to be. I don;t know what I’d do without it either! Your support is so much appreciated! Be sure to let your local librarians know and support your area libraries in anyway you can 🙂
LikeLike
I am a retired library associate and I know first hand what libraries struggle with on a daily basis. One thing that frustrates me is that people assume all we do is sit and read books all day, yeah right! It’s hard for libraries to cater to all needs when their budgets keep getting cut because the people who dole out the money don’t think libraries serve a function in society. Libraries are as important as K-12 education, without either one the society will fail. Thanks for the articles.
LikeLike
Page, I know right? Sure would be nice if I could sit and read all day! I’m lucky if I can get through a library-related article over the course of a day, being able to actually read a book? Ha! It is a sad thing that the people who hold the purse strings think libraries aren’t important. It’s a constant struggle, isn’t it? I agree, libraries are as important as K-12 education and libraries in K-12 schools are a proven benefit. Sadly, when school budgets get cut, they are the first things to go. The shortsightedness is astonishing!
LikeLike
Damn right. I especially like your point about how the people who write these articles seem to think they’re the first people who’ve ever had these ideas. Argh!
LikeLike
Elle, thanks! It’s all very frustrating. It’s like they have never bothered to talk to a librarian!
LikeLike
You’re probably on to something there…
LikeLike
THANK YOU for writing this. Normally I love Manguel, but I winced so hard when reading that article.
LikeLike
Ana, I normally love Manguel too and I appreciate that he believes libraries are important, but he also missed the mark and it made me wince too. I wasn’t going to write anything about it but then I came upon the Gleick review and it sent me over the edge 🙂
LikeLike
YOU could write that article, it occurs to me. 🙂 Don’t you think we live in an age, though, where everyone has a strong opinion on just about everything, regardless of experience, and is offended if it is not taken seriously? You should hear what your average journalist has to say about chronic fatigue syndrome…. not pretty.
LikeLike
Litlove, oh how you flatter me! I think you are right, we do live in a time where everyone thinks their opinion is important regardless of whether they are experts on the subject or not. It’s like the book I read last year, Being Wrong, in which the author mentions that among her friends when one of them, without any sort of real knowledge, insists on their rightness they tell that person they should publish that in Modern Jackass. Perhaps Maguel’s article should have been published in that distinguished journal as well as all those non-experts who write about CFS? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a library assistant, I know it is easy to look at the negatives too much, even within our own library, and not stress the positives on what we do right. Thanks for the reminder of putting the focus back where it belongs. Sometimes sadly people don’t realize all the resources a local library has.
LikeLike
Bryan, there is always room for improvement and we should always be looking at what we can do better, but I think you are right, we do have a tendency to focus on what is wrong. We need to remember to celebrate what is right too! Much better for morale 🙂
LikeLike
Oh, yes, teaching is definitely another profession that suffers in the same way so I feel your anger and your pain. The trouble is that everyone has been to school, just as most people have used a library (or at least walked past one) and so they think they are entitled to an equally weighted opinion. I would just like some of these dogmatists to have to try and implement the policies they advocate. I don’t know about libraries but I do know they wouldn’t last half an hour in a classroom.
LikeLike
Alex, I suppose with the internet, even doctors are bumping up against this kind of thing these days with people coming in with a self-diagnosis and telling the doctor what needs to be done about it. Heh, you’re right, if some of the dogmatists actually got a chance to implement their policies (and unfortunately in the US they sometimes do to disastrous effect) they will find it doesn’t quite work the way they think it does or should in classrooms, in libraries, anywhere really.
LikeLike
Like many who have replied, my branch of the library system is always buzzing with activity. I’ve finally mastered Hoopla Digital and have now downloaded 3 books to my iPad (still not sure how to transfer them to my iPod, but I’ll get there). The library…many of my sweetest and earliest childhood memories are inextricably bound to an old store-front library where I first applied for a library card and borrowed my first book. (The Wizard of Oz). I was a goner from that day forward. As sacred as any cathedral and, to me, just as awe inspiring. Long live libraries- or all shapes and sizes. And thank you to all librarians (also of all shapes and sizes).
LikeLike
Grad, yay for another thriving library branch! Hoopla Digital sounds much more fun than Overdrive, the system my public library uses! I don’t remember the first book I borrowed from the public library but I do remember getting my library card and the concentration it took to fit my very long name on the very small line, the patience and smile of the librarian as I did it, and my grinning and encouraging mother. I was so proud of myself! I was five or six and I felt so important and excited. Even getting my driver’s license never came near the joy I felt at the first library card.
LikeLike
People nowadays like to focus on the negative side of things. Glad to see not all of them. Great post, Stefanie.
LikeLike
Thanks Delia!
LikeLike
Thank you very much for this! I am actually the woman behind the “pajama party” at the Seneca East Public Library. When I received the email late Monday night that my tiny (but vibrant) library’s name was mentioned in the NY Times I thought for sure it was a mistake. I scanned the article quickly and behold! it was true! I backed up and read the article in its entirety. The flattery that I was feeling was gone. While his remarks are not altogether disparaging, the tone of his sentiment is clear.
His suggestion that community libraries with strong children’s programs are glorified nurseries is deeply insulting. What we do is IMPORTANT! Early literacy is IMPORTANT! Programs like my (Mo Willems’) Pigeons’ Pajama Party get kids excited about reading. Period. We are not forced to offer these programs because of funding problems. Rather, we would be forced NOT to offer them if we lost funding.
Libraries come in all shapes and sizes and so do our patrons. Not all libraries are grand academic institutions designed by Carnegie. I am proud to serve my tiny rural community. I am proud to serve our children. Story times and other youth service programs are integral to many if not most public libraries. They are interwoven into the fabric of our library and community. They should be celebrated.
LikeLike
Shannon, thanks for your great comment! I can imagine how surprised and nonplussed you must have been when you read the article. When he mentioned the pajama party I knew right away there was more to it, that it was book related and intended to get kids excited about reading. I hope it was a great success! When I was a kid my book nerd self would have been in heaven if my library offered something like that! He was wrong to make blanket statements about libraries without knowing anything about them. Obviously he doesn’t understand that the purpose of a library is to serve its community and we do that in a variety of ways including hosting book themed pajama parties 🙂 Seneca East Public sounds like a great library. It always warms my heart to know there are passionate librarians out there like you encouraging kids to read. Keep up the good work!
LikeLike
In a society where Donald Trump has any sort of chance of becoming president its no wonder that public libraries struggle to be properly appreciated! Excuse the rant. I was a little surprised that Alberto Mangruel thinks that libraries should be JUST about the books. I think libraries role as a public space where people can access what books offer is at least as important.
LikeLike
Ian, I and a lot of other people I know are terrified at the possibility of Donald Trump or Ben Carson as president! I was surprised by Manguel’s article and disappointed. I thought he was more aware than that.
LikeLike
Agree, Ian, that libraries do play a social/community role. No they are not a public housing shelter but providing space for people to come in, read, be part of a community is part of their role I believe. (Of course there are lines to be drawn but they aren’t JUST about the books)
LikeLike
You go girl! I love this comment of yours: “I am glad when someone acknowledges the struggles libraries have with funding and filling needs that we should not have to fill.” We really need more of such awareness and analysis out there in public domain. You are right, that many people really have no understanding of the complexity of the librarian’s role, of the social, financial, ethical, intellectual issues and debates that surround our work. The simplistic response you describe to the digital issue is a perfect example.
LikeLike
I suspected you would have similar feelings on this one. In a perfect world libraries would be all about books and learning but as far as I know we have never lived in that perfect world. I think libraries and librarians are still about books but our idea of what constitutes learning has expanded greatly and creating a community learning space is not just books any more, they are a part of it but not the only part. It is unfortunate that all critics manage to see is a bunch of people sitting at computers.
LikeLike
Absolutely … And different libraries have different roles. That social community … And things like providing access to the Internet, teaching how to use it … Is important in public libraries but less so in a higher education library. Etc.
LikeLike