I am always fascinated by the surprise that
folks have upon rediscovery of the public library or coming up against the
popular notion that the public library is not long for the world. Paul Krugman’s recent New York Times blog post
“In Praise of Public Libraries (Personal and Trivial)” speaks to the simple
delight in finding a space in the community that has some infrastructure, a
culture of sharing and no expectation of you except civil behavior. Meanwhile, beyond offering a sweet spot in the
daily grind, public libraries everywhere are gearing up their summer reading
programs and reaching out to kids and families to do what we can to bring the
beauty of the arts and the humanities (literature, history, art, music and much
more) to the neighborhoods and towns across the country. Quiet magic – day in and day out. No chest pounding, no vapid self-promotion,
just quiet and sustained effort to experience the “Power and Pleasure of Ideas”.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Quiet and More
I spent last Friday in Augusta at the Maine
Humanities Summit sponsored by the University of Maine Humanities Initiative. I also participated on a panel of academic and
public librarians to explain the role of libraries in the “public” humanities. The attending group was made up of the
converted, those of us who see in others and experience in ourselves every day
the “Power & Pleasure of Ideas” - to borrow a phrase from the Maine
Humanities Council. We spoke of public
libraries being a provider, presenter, collector, promoter and organizer of the
humanities. So it was on fertile ground
(and with gratitude) that our individual presentations were received. There was little if any surprise just
appreciation.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
About Libraries
The variety and range of libraries and the issues that are
part of their daily and strategic concerns are not always obvious to the
general public. There is not a shortage
of coverage of specific issues facing libraries such as e-books, funding, etc.
and occasionally there is a more general survey about the future of libraries
or how they are evolving. For national
audiences, the May 14th Wall Street
Journal article, “The Library’s Future Is Not an Open Book” does a fine job giving a sense of the
challenges and rationale that urban libraries face nationwide and how it is
being addressed through planning and architecture. One will see echoes and demonstrations of PPL
in that piece.
For Mainers seeking to understand our statewide library
landscape the newest issue of the Maine Policy Review offers a wonderful blend of comment on the history,
philosophy, service and strategic challenges associated with Maine’s libraries.
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