by Nomad
From Page to Ashes to Dust
Apart from genocide or the intentional extinction of an animal species, nothing, in my opinion, is sadder than the destruction of a library.As a repository of facts, ideas, and history, the library has always been one of the pillars upon which humanity's progress rests.
As Carl Sagan said:
Outside of information, there's another benefit to reading.
As we know, floods, wars, and fires are all capable of destroying libraries. Radical ideological shifts can also endanger libraries. For example, when the Puritans took over the running of things in England, books that contained ideas the religious fundamentalists did not agree with were burned on a vast scale.
But perhaps the saddest of all fates that can befall a library is neglect. It has been plausibly argued that the overall decline of libraries in the ancient world came not from religious bigotry or from the Vandals breaking down the city walls and looting. It came from indifference and apathy.
“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species.When a library is destroyed or is shuttered, a bit of our greatness is diminished. It is especially heartbreaking when the annihilation of libraries comes as collateral damage in wartime.
During the siege of the Sarajevo in August 1992, Serbian forces shelled the city. In the midst of the wholesale carnage, the National Library which went up in flames, destroying almost two million books including many rare and irreplaceable volumes. Here's how one witness described the apocalyptic scene:
All over the city, sheets of burning paper, fragile pages of grey ashes, floated down like a dirty black snow. Catching a page, you could feel its heat, and for a moment read a fragment of text in a strange kind of black and grey negative, until, as the heat dissipated, the page melted to dust in your hand.
For those who love books, that description is horrifying: a vision of how the world ends.
Civilization flourishes wherever libraries are established. The progress of humankind is almost solely as a result of having the ability to pass along and to build upon the knowledge of our ancestors.Outside of information, there's another benefit to reading.
Various studies have suggested that reading fiction has a positive effect on our emotional intelligence and the ability to empathize with others. For example, according to an article in the Scientific American, researchers found evidence that literary fiction improves a reader’s capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling.”
And the article further suggests that literary fiction can “support and teach us values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves.”
So if you wish to live in an uncaring and stupid world, burn down a library.
And the article further suggests that literary fiction can “support and teach us values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves.”
So if you wish to live in an uncaring and stupid world, burn down a library.
The Saddest Of All Fates
But perhaps the saddest of all fates that can befall a library is neglect. It has been plausibly argued that the overall decline of libraries in the ancient world came not from religious bigotry or from the Vandals breaking down the city walls and looting. It came from indifference and apathy.
Under normal conditions, the venerated books on library shelves would have been replenished. The rulers of Rome or Athens or Byzantium would have sent out copyists to make replacements from all over the world.
Yet before Rome fell in A.D. 476, ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus reported, that by 380, all of the public libraries in the city were "closed like tombs."
At some point, funding priorities shifted. After corruption had emptied treasuries, what money remained was spend on more practical concerns, like maintaining city walls and roads and aqueducts, the military defense or the Empire and bribing the enemies.
Precious little remained for the upkeep of public libraries. And, sadly, we seem to be witnessing the same thing in our times.
Precious little remained for the upkeep of public libraries. And, sadly, we seem to be witnessing the same thing in our times.
Ignorance, Investment and the Funding of Libraries
As a recent article in The Atlantic pointed out:
Libraries are not the kinds of institutions that social scientists, policy makers, and community leaders usually bring up when they discuss social capital and how to build it. But they’re among the most critical, and undervalued, forms of social infrastructure that we have... Unfortunately, the federal government’s indifference to our civic institutions mirrors that of state and local governments across America.
On a state and local level, funding for libraries has been met with similar indifference. The Atlantic gives this snapshot:
In New York, for instance, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget for 2019 includes a four percent cut in the state library budget. Between 2001 and 2015, Massachusetts cut funding for its Department of Conservation and Recreation by $30 million. These reductions pale in comparison to those made by Republican-controlled states such as Wisconsin, Kansas, and Oklahoma, where governors and state assemblies have made gutting public programs a top priority.
On a federal level, the 2019 budget proposal renews the Trump administration's attempts to permanently eliminate the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
The IMLS is an independent federal agency and the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States. Its mission since 1996 has been to "create strong libraries and museums that connect people with information and ideas."
As one source connected to the publishing industry observes:
The IMLS is an independent federal agency and the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States. Its mission since 1996 has been to "create strong libraries and museums that connect people with information and ideas."
As one source connected to the publishing industry observes:
In justifying the library and arts cuts, the Trump budget claims such funding is not a “core” federal responsibility, and that “it is unlikely the elimination of IMLS would result in the closure of a significant number of libraries and museums.”
Jim Neal, president of the American Library Association has called the budget proposed by the Trump administration "out of touch with the real needs of Americans and the priorities of leaders in Congress who represent them."
"The president miscalculates the value of more than 120,000 libraries across America, just as he did in his FY2018 budget proposal."
The 2018 budget cuts were struck down, thanks to strong lobbying by the ALA last year. Neal added:
“ALA members will continue to highlight the value of libraries to our elected leaders in every U.S. congressional district. And we are confident that our congressional leaders will continue to protect the federal programs that invest in our communities.”Libraries are, in a very real sense, long-term investments in people. As Walter Cronkite once said:
“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”
The Internet: the Unreliable Replacement
In a digital age, many question the value of public libraries. After all, we have the best library in the world: The Internet.
It's true that the Net is a wonderful resource. In a search for information, it cannot be beaten in terms of speed. Yet, as recent news has demonstrated, in the wrong hands, it can very easily become a tool for public manipulation.
Russian interference in the last election amply demonstrated the Net's shortcomings. It can be used to spread false news and misleading information. There is no process to winnow out the true from the untrue.
In contrast, the public library plays host to vetted and reliable materials, services, education and access to valuable information that cannot be easily replaced. Like newspapers, public Libraries too offer a kind of information permanence in which, unlike the Internet, facts cannot be scrubbed, biographies cannot be erased or statements cannot be deleted.Recently we saw a fine example of this when Wikipedia entries were being re-written in real time to match false statements made by Brett Kavanaugh. That could never have happened in a library.
There's another problem: access. In fact, due to limited competition in the market, Americans pay the most in the world for broadband access. This means that more and more families are having to live without what most people consider an essential utility and public service.
In contrast, a public library is free and is generally funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
Furthermore, draconian and often nonsensical copyright laws are making it more and more difficult to gain access to vital information. Under these laws, the concept of the public domain is under attack, placing rigid restrictions on films, literature, music and documents that not long ago would have been free for all.
Compare that to public libraries. They are generally exempt from these laws. The first sale doctrine, one of the few limitations and exceptions to copyright, enables libraries to lend books and other resources. Fair use allows for the use of copyrighted works for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, or research.
However, the idea behind Fair Use is constantly being challenged in courts through attorneys representing, for example, music and film companies. Online platforms, like YouTube or Blogger, generally back away from fair use disputes.
For these reasons, the public library cannot be surpassed in the digital age when it comes to championing free access, essential for democracy.
A Nation without a Past or Future
A 2015 Pew survey found that almost two-thirds of adult Americans say that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. The study also revealed that over 90 percent of adults think of public libraries as “welcoming and friendly places,” and about half have visited or otherwise used a public library in the last 12 months.
A study by the University of Pennsylvania found that
A study by the University of Pennsylvania found that
“public libraries are dynamic, socially responsive institutions, a nexus of diversity, and a lifeline for the most vulnerable among us.”Policymakers and government officials shouldn't be cutting funding for libraries. If they care about the nation, they need to be increasing spending in order to build upwardly mobile communities. And that clearly is not going to happen until major shifts in power take place.
Science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury offered his opinions on the importance of libraries and what we risk by neglecting them.
Without libraries, what have we? We have no past and no future.
Feeling demoralized and helpless? Get the idea that you are just a powerless witness to a national tragedy? Then, why not take a more active role?
One of our nomads, lefty_lucy, found an excellent site that allows you to participate in a more significant way.
MobilizeAmerica is a volunteer management platform and network that enables activists, progressive organizations and campaigns to connect and win. Its mission is to" enable a more just and more representative democracy, and we’re equipping the progressive movement with the right digital organizing tools to do it."
Check it out at this link and don't wait.