Library miracles

Josh Hanagarne

Josh Hanagarne, in his memoir The World's Strongest Librarian: A Book Lover's Adventures, makes a couple of observations about libraries that may be worth comment.

"I really want this building to serve the purpose for which it was intended -- as a breeding ground for curiosity."

Hanagarne mentions some other purposes some patrons at the Utah library where he works seem to think the building serves. Parents drop their children off while they go to work, expecting librarians to serve as babysitters. Some people seek quiet places in the library to sleep. Teenagers seek out the same places to make out. I recently used a public library for the purpose of getting coached on the operation of a new insulin pump.

Libraries themselves, especially in recent decades, have expanded their purpose in a multitude of ways. They have cafes, computers for patron use, public meeting rooms and a wide variety of programs.

But is being a breeding ground for curiosity the main purpose of a library? It could be argued that in most cases a person becomes curious before entering the library. One goes to the library to satisfy that curiosity -- to find the answers to questions, to scratch an already existing itch.

Yet answers have a way of stimulating more questions. As has been often stated, the more we know the more we realize we don't know. And often when we go to a library to get one thing, our eyes are drawn to another book, another magazine, another video, whatever. So, yes, libraries do breed curiosity, or at least more curiosity.

"A library is a miracle. A place where you can learn just about anything, for free. A place were your mind can come alive."

In an age when almost everyone has a world of information available to them at all times on phones they carry with them everywhere, it seems amazing how busy libraries are. Sometimes even finding a place to park can be a challenge. I have seen standing-room-only author talks and genealogy meetings. Video stores may have closed, but people still go to libraries to find movies to watch. Most days when I go to the Largo Library in Florida I see the same woman in the same chair reading a different book. Patrons line up to check out books or to ask questions. At the Largo Library, they also line up just to get in when the doors open in the morning.

The real miracle may be the fact that it is all free. We also live in age where almost everything has a price, and that price is rarely cheap. Even dollar stores now charge more than a dollar for most merchandise. Yet you can walk into any public library and walk out with an armload of books, CDs, DVDs or whatever, all for free. You have to bring them back, of course, and the fact that most people do is another miracle.