Even with the internet’s endless magic, libraries remain fascinating and important places. Come to the library with me in this episode, where I’ll share three reasons I love libraries and think everyone else should too!
A few resources:
Great Library of Alexandria: New and improved
The world’s most extraordinary libraries
‘A cultural masterpiece’: the world’s best new public libraries — in pictures
Public libraries are not just about books. At their heart, they are about social equity. (The Guardian)
Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseast
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0
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Transcription (remember, this is a direct transcription of what I said and is not actually how I write!):
Welcome to 9 Minutes of Wonder. I’m Betsy Hedberg. I hope this podcast will help you rekindle your sense of wonder for this awe-inspiring world. If you like what you hear in the next few minutes, please subscribe and share.
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Today I’m going to talk about libraries, and I hope you have a positive impression of libraries, but maybe not.
Traditionally, they were kind of musty old buildings with outdated materials and limited choices, right? But that was a long time ago. Back in those days, you might say, “Yeah, the library is boring.” And nowadays, you might say, “Well, why do we need libraries when we’ve got the internet, and we’ve got everything we need right there?”
Today I’ll discuss three reasons why I think libraries inspire wonder, and why I always have.
Another good reason is that April 23rd, which is the date I plan to release this episode, is World Book Day.
So take a moment first and think about how you feel about libraries, and if you’ve ever had a particularly good experience in a library, and what that was like. And if not, if you haven’t had a good experience in a library, what could the library have done to make it better for you? What would your ideal library be like?
I said I would make three points about why libraries are so great.
The first reason is that they’ve always offered a wonderful variety of information under one roof.
My earliest library memories are that every few weeks, my elementary school class would walk down to the local public library to check out books that were not available at the school, because it was a really small school, and we didn’t have a lot of room for a library there. And we all had children’s library cards at this public library, and we could choose whatever books we wanted — well, they took us to the children’s section, but we kind of got to wander around the library. And I was curious about everything. So I typically chose books about animals, or I would choose various age-appropriate novels, like the teachers wanted us to.
But one time when I was about eight, I saw a book about drugs. And I thought, “Oh my god, I know drugs are bad, but I want to learn more about why.” I guess that’s what I thought. I was intrigued. And the book had photos of people who looked like they were really strung out on drugs, which made it even more intriguing, because I was also interested in people having weird experiences.
So I put the book in a pile with my other books that I was going to check out. And my teacher saw that book and made me put it back, which of course was probably, from her perspective, a good idea. But I snuck it into my pile, and I put it in the middle of the pile so she couldn’t see it, and I took it home anyway. and I read it in secret in my bedroom.
So it wasn’t that I was into drugs or that I ever have been, but I was so curious about everything. And even at age eight, I was totally enthralled with the huge variety of topics that I could learn about at the library. So again, I’ve always loved libraries and the wonders of the things that you can find there.
And what really got me thinking about libraries recently was a trip to the 18th-century Joanina Library in Coimbra, Portugal, at the University of Coimbra. This library is magical. It’s got two stories of book stacks, which are supported by ornate wood with gilded walls, like you would see in cathedrals in Portugal. Some people think of Harry Potter or something like that when they go into it, but it’s even much more ornate than that. So you can picture how it looks.
And when I was in there, I was thinking about all the knowledge and information and opinions that are in these books.
And they had, of course, some very old books, centuries old, and some of the books were enormous. I don’t mean like wide, I mean tall books. And I was thinking like, even if we might not always like the language that they used back then, or the perspectives that they took, even though many voices, most voices from the past were not heard or recorded in these books, an old library like this is still a fascinating window on the past.
And of course, that library was not anywhere near as egalitarian as modern public libraries are today. But it did make me think about the importance of libraries overall. And I don’t know what I would need to do to go actually look at one of those books. This is not egalitarian even now. You have to get a ticket, and then you get 10 minutes in the library, and there are ropes between you and the books. There’s no way you’re going to look at any of the books inside, but it’s still a magnificent place if you ever are in Coimbra.
One thing I also think about is how vulnerable and fragile this information can be. For example, various fires, wars, and other disasters over time have destroyed countless pieces of information in libraries. And you might say, well, most of this information is irrelevant or trivial. And maybe that’s true, but we’ll never know, right, if it’s gone.
And I think sometimes some of the seemingly trivial information is actually some of the most interesting. Like when I was doing historical research at the Denver Public Library, and I found this little quote from the Rocky Mountain News on December 24, 1880. It was an announcement that said, “The novelty of a large Christmas tree loaded with fried oysters can be witnessed at Fred Peck’s Chapel tonight.” So little tidbits like that can be picked up from the newspaper and magazine collections from over 100 years ago at various public libraries, and they’re definitely not all available on the internet.
You may have heard about the famous Alexandria Library. Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city and a cultural center, and at its height in the third century BC, it had as many as 500,000 papyrus manuscripts, and scholars came there from long distances to study and learn. Most or all of those manuscripts have been lost to history, although, contrary to popular belief, the library did not all burn to the ground at once, but it was destroyed by a combination of neglect, war, and fire over the course of a few centuries. But what a loss, right? It would be incredible to have at least some of those manuscripts today, although much of it was probably copied and appeared in other forms later on.
The second reason libraries are so great is, of course, because they bring the community together and they serve all sorts of people, everybody from a community.
They’re not commercial, so you’re not expected to spend money or to get out of there quickly if you haven’t bought something.
The librarians are there, and they’re highly trained in diverse topics and skills so that they can help with all kinds of research.
People who can’t access the internet from their homes can do so at the library for free.
People who need access to audio or large-print materials that don’t exist online, or if they don’t have the internet, can go to the public library.
There’s often a hub for older people to participate, kind of like a community center for them, and there are literacy programs for adults and for children.
Immigrants can go to a library to get information on how to navigate the bureaucracy, not just by looking at books or computers but by talking to people at the library.
It can be vital for people looking for jobs or trying to get basic training on computer literacy so that they can apply for jobs online.
And then, of course, there are so many activities for children — preschool children, and also after-school and weekend programs.
Libraries are repositories of historical information, including practical information about your house and your neighborhood.
And they have many other cultural offerings, concerts, and clubs, and all sorts of things.
So that’s the second reason libraries are so important.
And the third reason I think libraries inspire wonder is because they can be beautiful works of architecture and design in and of themselves, and many libraries are both old libraries and very modern ones. There are some websites that have pictures of these gorgeous libraries around the world.
Again, many of them are quite new, and some of them are designed by well-known architects, and cities really take pride in their central public libraries. And modern-day Alexandria, Egypt has a library. It’s enormous. It has room for about 8 million books, and it’s got museums, art galleries, and a planetarium, and the outside wall of this library is inscribed in 120 different languages. I’ll share a link so you can see photos of that.
So what do you think? When was the last time you enjoyed some quality time in a library, either a really old one or a modern library?
And I hope you’ll visit and support your public libraries and the policies that so they don’t end up like the Alexandria Library. Enjoy some reading, hopefully on World Book Day, and I’ll talk to you soon.