Libraries and Life

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life. — Henry Ward Beecher.   The future of libraries was the topic of conversation at the Authors on the Move event I attended this past weekend.  Will there even be such things as libraries in another ten years?  I can only hope so.  Technology and the economy are threats to the life of libraries across the country.  Libraries in the Old West got their start by pioneer women who wanted to compile all the reading material they had brought with them over the plains.  They wanted the material housed in a central location for everyone to enjoy.  Calvin E. Stowe, a professor and librarian at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, was chiefly responsible for the development of largest academic library in the world.  His wife, famous educator Harriet Beecher Stowe, believed her husband was destined to do create libraries.  “I was married when I was twenty-five years old to a rich man in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic and alas in nothing else,” she wrote in her memoirs.  “My husband had a large library of books and a great deal of learning but nothing else.  What else could he do?” A panel discussion was held at Authors on the Move between two best-selling authors about the future of libraries.  The two writers were so enamored with themselves that an answer was barely touched upon.  They spent a great deal of time bragging about themselves and their rise in the literary field.  Several at the signing left midway through their mutual praise fest.  Convinced the pair would eventually get back on topic, I stayed.  The speakers ended the commercial for their work with a challenge for authors and library lovers in the audience to consider what we need to do to help libraries remain relevant.  I’m not sure what the answer is, but I know it’s an important question.  Libraries like the one in Dodge City, Kansas are thriving.  Cathy Reeves is the head librarian there and has seen to it that her library continues to be a necessity.  Maybe we need to send enthusiastic, driven women like Cathy to speak at major book signings and conferences like the event I participated in this weekend.  She could answer all the questions asked and share her innovative ideas.  Those who attended the event could actually learn how to save a library instead of listening to two authors go on and on about how much better their work is than the Twilight series of books.