Head Tale

I got this off the PLG listserv.  There's lots of talk in libraryland about what the future of libraries will be so I thought I'd pass along one person's tongue-in-cheek (?) take on the question…

There was a time when we were mere purveyors of books and periodicals and related media -- and, by extension, of ideas and viewpoints --  and the "go to" people for finding information and referrals to just about anything that might come up.

Thankfully (and partly thanks to the wide availability of online material and search engines), those days are behind us forever, and  
we can now focus on our long-neglected social responsibilities.

Every librarian, as a steward of the public trust, has a duty to eliminate race and income inequity, promote diversity, and serve the needs of downtrodden and oppressed people everywhere who do not have voices with which to speak.  Every librarian, as an employee of government, has a duty to be an agent of social change, fulfilling  
the role of government as repairer of wrongs and nurturer and caretaker of its citizens.

At my library, we, too, struggled with balancing the high cost of books and periodicals with the cost of the social services we wished to provide. Every year was another balancing act that left no one particularly happy.

Then we had our epiphany.

In the digital age, books and periodicals are irrelevant, and viewpoints and ideas are dead.  These things are emphatically NOT what our patrons want or need.

They want computers and games.  They want food.  In some cases, they want and need beds and showers.  Above all, they want our help, and I do not mean help to find a copy of Tale of Two Cities.

So we got rid of our books and periodicals.

Every one of them.

I am now happy to say that we offer a wide array of social services unimpeded by the worn-out, tattered cultural baggage of bourgeoise society.

We have on-staff, onsite social workers and psychiatric therapists.   

We offer space for lawyers working pro bono.  There is space for weekly visits from county health services staff and space for child  
protective services functions.  We can treat people with substance abuse problems.  We can shelter anyone needing respite from abusive  
relationships, and we can shelter the homeless, thanks to generous contributions of bedding from local furniture retailers.

We were able to greatly expand the restrooms and add full showers to those facilities.  We have expanded the coffee shop to a full-service cafeteria, with free or reduced-cost meals (eligibility certified by the former reference librarians). We have partnered with local second-
hand stores to provide a full line of clothing and shoes.

All these services -- and many more I haven't even mentioned -- were made possible by the simple expedient of eliminating the books and periodicals!  Remember that you save not only the cost of the items and subscriptions, but the considerable cost of cataloging and looking after them!

We are entering a new and exciting phase of librarianship in which we truly help people in need -- even offering them the good parenting  
they never had -- and move beyond the narrow viewpoint of merely freely offering access to the word in all its forms.

It is a brave, new world!

And we are free of books, and the inordinate amount of tending they took, forever!

-- Joe Schallan
     New Phoenix, Arizona