A Cultural Repository Or Middle Class Welfare?
*John Miller*, writing for the *Wall Street Journal*, has an interesting article today concerning a growing trend among libraries, and in particular Northern Virginia libraries, where "classical literature is being replaced on the shelf permanently for the latest Grisham New-York Times bestseller.":http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110009472 It's an interesting point that gives me pause as my wife & I have begun to make it more of a regular habit to start frequenting the local library, considering even a financial donation soon in thanks for their service. I love my library. It offers many things which others, frankly, do not. An older farmhouse building in town, our local library offers an extensive book offering (considering the size of the town), DVD & CD offerings, downloadable MP3's of audiobooks, free wireless internet, the latest in periodicals, and peaceful sitting area in which to enjoy them all. The idea of building a personal library, a task my wife & I have already set about doing slowly, is one that resonates with both of us. Yet my greatest appreciation of the library is that it offers limitless information and knowledge to any and all willing to learn virtually free-of-charge. It allows someone like myself who devours three books in ten days when I might not have the resources to support such an expensive habit. The library eliminates any excuse for those in a financial pinch, on a tight budget, or don't have limitless resources to share in the cultural celebrations recorded and talked about within the multiple pages found within a library. Yet Miller's article did get me to thinking. Miller asks us the _"fundamental question: What are libraries for? Are they cultural storehouses that contain the best that has been thought and said? Or are they more like actual stores, responding to whatever fickle taste or Mitch Albom tearjerker is all the rage at this very moment?"_ I would hope the former rather than the later, yet I cannot say that I see too many people heading back with me to take down the classical literature of *Steinbeck*, *Bronte*, *Dickens*, or *Dante*. Most are looking to check out _Kite Runner_ or some other latest NYT/Oprah Book Club bestseller. Miller continues with the thought that _"[if] public libraries attempt to compete in this environment, they will increasingly be seen for what Fairfax County apparently envisions them to be: welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow Nelson DeMille's newest potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at their local Wal-Mart."_ It's a point that bears some valid thought, providing us a chance to personally survey ourselves in the role we see libraries becoming in this vast "Information Age" we live in. Are libraries to act more as repositories of culture and heritage, imparting modern and classical literature to all willing, or are they to serve the latest whim and desire of their most avid borrowers -- the middle class. Some may think that only the poor suffer from welfare abuse, but I think Miller has a point--when libraries abandon their previous championed role of cultural lighthouses to the ignorant of society, they become nothing more then a welfare program for middle class families looking to save a buck or two.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 7:16am. It has been filed under News, Thoughts, Books, Quotes, Joshua.
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