There is a lot t be said for libraries, I’ll tell you.
As a kid growing up in Dayton, Ohio, the library was one of the most magical places on the planet for me. Mom always drove me, now that I think about it. I rode my bike just about everywhere else, but in the case of the library, the logistics of carting the books to and fro while on my bike was probably too much for little me.
Anyway, I was allowed to get a big stack each time we visited. And I usually did. I think we could take ten out at a time.
In that library were thousands of worlds, just waiting to be explored. I loved how it smelled and how it looked. Most of all, I loved sitting in one of the quiet aisles with a book on my lap, deciding whether it was going home with me.
Those sentiments most likely followed me into adulthood. I worked at a library for years. First, as a library assistant. Then, I shifted gears and took over running the genealogy department. And in my final years there, I switched hats once more. I taught myself the ways of the geek. How to fix computers. How to code. How to create websites. So I moved to the IT department. There were just two of us, so not much of a department.
When the internet came on the scene, the “big” prediction was that libraries would wither up and die. No one would need the library any longer to find their information. They’d have the web.
But the opposite has happened. Recent annual data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services revealed that libraries are more popular than ever. Key findings suggested that in-person library usage is slightly down. On the other hand, the popularity of library use — thanks to digital access — is at its highest. The study also revealed that libraries rely less on government funding than they ever have before. Sadly, though, library workers, on average, make less than a living wage.
The lending of books. The sharing of knowledge. Such a wonderful thing.
All of this came running back into my mind because I happened upon this little tidbit. It was on this date, December 7, 1968, when a man named Richard Dodd returned a library book to the University of Cincinnati. His great-grandfather had taken the book out way back in 1823, and Richard brought it back. I hope they forgave the overdue fees.
Speaking of long periods of time, the oldest library in the world dates from the seventh century BC. It was located in Nineveh, which is modern-day Iraq. Archaeologists later stumbled upon its ruins in the mid-19th century. The site included a trove of some 30,000 cuneiform tablets organized according by subject matter. Things like archival documents, religious incantations, and scholarly texts were there.
In more recent years, one of the people who did the most for libraries was philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. That wealthy man donated $55 million—or about $1.6 billion in today’s dollars—between 1886 and 1919 to open an astounding 2509 libraries worldwide. Of those, 1679 were in the United States.
As of 2020, there were approximately 163,810 librarians, 30,810 library technicians, and 69,650 library assistants working in the United States.
And all those books. Still so much magic after all these years.
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“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
― Jorge Luis Borges
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“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man”
― T.S. Eliot
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“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
― Albert Einstein
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“The world is quiet here.”
― Lemony Snicket
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