Library memories
We took our daughter to college today. Move in complete, lunch over, a half-hour to burn, we stared at each other. "Let's go check out the library" I innocently requested. Eyes rolled. Every picture tells a story and the photo above qualifies as a picture and a story. Those lovely specks in the picture are my wife and daughter and the foreground is the Midway College Library. We visited the library today.
It is an air conditioned place so I got my way and was able to explore the space with Maddie as my wife chatted with the librarian. Maddie and I walked around the building and I offered sterling advice: "Study here," I said. "You could bring your computer but study here in the quiet of the library." I showed her the rooms available for use. "You can reserve these and study with other people in your class."
She smiled at me. "Really. This is the best place to read and get peace and quiet while you work. Lose the cell phone and enjoy this quiet space."
We wandered the facility and I performed my inspection. Biographies: Boswell's Life, good Lincoln works, only two Mozart books (and no Solomon). Decent fiction. Limited hours. Okay, this is an equine/nursing/teacher's school. Magazines: National Review expired in 2007 (for shame), but there was a strong supply of equine publications. Good media center, lots of table space. It would do.
I judge schools by their libraries. Are they hubs of activity? Vibrant? Welcoming? Places of inquiry? If schools are a place of learning, their libraries should give critical support to that mission.
I remember the hours upon hours I spent at the library in college. Reading, researching, studying, learning. I would pack up my work, hike over to the library, find a desk, unload and get to the tasks of the evening. There was a meeting area in the front where talking was permitted. But as you moved away or up from the entrance, the library consumed all conversation. The stacks quieted their vistors and maintained a hushed environment of thought. Here, in a corner, or at a large table the code of silence was held almost without enforcement.
A good school library could almost replace the classroom. They are inviting places for study. A refuge from the noisy dormitories. A place to gather one's thoughts and perhaps build upon them with ready materials.
I hope my daughter truly discovers and appreciates this treasure.
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