Let's Get Rid of Some Public Libraries

When was the last time you had a purely pleasurable experience at the library?

I remember going into the East Asian library on my college campus, sifting away through the basement archives as I spin the shelf wheel, exposing books that have been unread for decades.

I remember the first moment when I opened a book bound during the Qing dynasty, with a woodblock print of map of the tiny villages where my grandparents grew up.

I discovered something about myself that day, another layer about my existence.

Everyone on the college campus walking past these libraries at least agrees the facilities serve our community and has value.

Then I moved back home.

The public library in my community is a strange netherworld where people don't touch books.

Old people in the morning too cheap to buy a newspaper dig through for a free copy.

When a parent who needed help finding a book, the librarian said, "Go look it up in the computer."

People are checking out DVD's by the basketful at a self-check out counter.

There's always a line to use the free 30 minutes of internet.

And when it strikes 2:30 pm, kids coming out of school swarm into the library as it was another playground.  I can't hear myself speak at that point.

Do people use to the library to borrow books anymore?

I can't find an English language bookstore within a 10 mile radius.  I don't count the selections at Target or Walmart.

I don't buy the argument that libraries fight illiteracy.  It's like saying the vegetable section in the supermarket fights obesity.  Let's face it, most people don't want to eat vegetables.

That's the main problem, books aren't appetizing to most people.

Once you stop reading with teacher during story time, reading becomes work.

"Read Acts 1 and 2 of Romeo and Juliet by tomorrow. We're going to have a test."

Boring.   Shakespeare is terrible.  Romeo and Juliet deserved to die because of their stupidity.

"A, B, C, D," "true," and "false" is how most people respond to reading.

Most people in my generation text , read blog articles and the like.  You know, surf the interweb.  This isn't a bad thing.  We quickly find thoughts that peak our interest and share ideas with  people in ways that no paper book can.

But books force us to focus on ideas that cannot be digested instantly.  We have to be patient forming the full complexity of an abstract concept.

A library must be a space that enables any citizen an opportunity to perform this act.  It isn't merely a place to gather information, the internet is much more efficient at doing that.

The library is outdated and needs reformatting within the context of an internet society.

How about having the option of purchasing the used book we borrowed?

Or using the library as an open-source publishing house so new writers can have their works sitting on local library shelves?

Or designing the library space for study and open discussion?  Learning should be continuous through all ages.

But if a community wants the library to be cheap alternative to Netflix, let's get rid of them.