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| Photo by Humans of New York, posted 25th February, 2014. |
On Tuesday 25th February, Humans of New York posted a photo of a man eating chicken on the street outside a branch of the New York Public Library as part of their photojournalism series. The man asked that in return for appearing in the photo, they broadcast a message for him:
"I work at this library. And before that, I was coming here for twenty years. It’s my favorite place in the world. As many people know, the main reading room of this library is supported by seven floors of books, which contain one of the greatest research collections in the world. Recently, the library administration has decided to rip out this collection, send the books to New Jersey, and use the space for a lending library. As part of the consolidation, they are going to close down the Mid-Manhattan Library Branch as well as the Science, Industry, and Business Library. When everything is finished, one of the greatest research libraries in the world will become a glorified internet cafe. Now read that back to me."There was a resulting uproar from library fans around the world commenting in support of the anonymous chicken-eater (Tumblr introduced the tag #angrylibrarianeatingchicken), encouraging people to sign a petition to the mayor to keep the branch open and so on. Such outpourings have had great effect in instances like the Pulaski County Public Libraries and slightly less success in UK branch libraries.
However, this David and Goliath story was not exactly as it first appeared. Humans of New York contacted NYPL and later the same day posted this clarification:
"Because of all the attention of this morning’s library post, I thought it’d only be fair to post the NYPL’s response. I’m quoting four points that they’ve asked me to clarify:
*The man says “I work at this Library.” Ends up, he doesn’t “work” for the library in the sense of being an employee. He is probably doing his work at the library (millions do each year!). We fear the confusion might make people think he is offering his opinion as an employee.
*The vast majority of research books will remain on the site (in far superior storage conditions)
*None of the public spaces he and others enjoy will change, and we’ll be returning a circulating collection to this main library (it had one for its first 70 years).
*This plan will be greatly expanding access to the library. The renovation will allow all New Yorkers–scholars, students, educators, immigrants, job-seekers– to take advantage of this beautiful building and its world-class collections.
Obviously the issue is more complex than soundbites from either side, so feel free to educate yourself further and form your own opinion:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NYPL+renovation+debate"
I wanted to bring this instance to the attention of my reader(s) as an example of the in turns gratifying and infuriating passion some people have for libraries. While I of course laud the intense loyalty many show to libraries, there is often the knee-jerk assumption that any change undertaken by a library is a) the result of budget cuts alone and not influenced by other factors such as demand, usage statistics and so-on, and b) is a change for the worse. Perhaps these people feel protective of libraries, viewing them as both timeless and defenceless, and get a sense of satisfaction from crusading on their behalf.
However, libraries serve very diverse purposes. Some are historical records of a particular collector, institution or country and for them change would be potentially cataclysmic. However, for modern libraries that serve a user base, change is a necessity borne of the changing needs of the communities they serve. Sometimes this means growth and sometimes it means consolidation. I am not familiar enough with the intricacies of this particular branch to comment on its impending changes, but I think it is worthwhile to point out that a conservative attitude toward libraries can actually be worse in the long run, allowing them to slip into irrelevance rather than remaining vital and central to their users' lives.
Libraries are never going to please all of their users, but the assumption that the public knows better than the librarians who are making these decisions is symptomatic of the attitude that dismisses libraries as static institutions and devalues librarianship as a profession. Try talking to librarians about why changes are taking place before jumping to the conclusion that it is for sinister reasons. Libraries are there to serve their communities, so if you have genuine concerns, get in touch with the librarian before starting a campaign. Some libraries do need protecting, but not all change is (necessarily) bad.
