philosophical context
In our first week, we followed along as the text took us through the basics of the evolution of the American public library. The readings prompted some of us to look a bit more deeply into the foundations of our own public libraries and/or to ask about the various forces that worked to bring public libraries into being. One might offer the thought that this is enough history for us to focus on and we might better move on to the present day. One might, however, respectfully offer a slightly different perspective.
Many observers have talked about the public library as if it were a part of the communal, political, or social structure just because it is a good thing. The sociologist Oliver Garceau in 1949 wrote what has become the accepted definition of "the library faith."
Out of [the library's] past has come what we may call the library faith. It is a fundamental belief, so generally accepted as to be often left unsaid, in the virtue of the printed word, the reading of which is good in itself, and upon the preservation of which many basic values in our civilization rest. When culture is in question, the knowledge of books, the amount of reading, and the possession of a library - all become measures of value, not only of the individual, but also of the community.
Personally, I subscribe to that definition. But then, I have always had libraries available to me and I have always assumed that they must exist because everyone must also subscribe to that definition.
However, in your postings one detected some possibilities that not everyone shares that "faith." Kate had some experiences with acquaintances who were not readers and who probably didn't see the public library as crucial to their personal well-being. It probably isn't critical to them and they probably don't share the faith.
I was astounded during a seminar on theory development to hear a distinguished professor of chemistry say "why are you studying libraries? Libraries are dead. I get everything I need from the Internet." He had wealth and access to resources and thus public libraries probably weren't critical to him. He didn't share the faith.
During my dissertation research in small North Carolina towns, I continually heard from librarians that most of the members of the town government were not readers and did not frequent the library, even though they (sometimes grudgingly) continued to provide tax monies to operate the library. They don't seem to share the faith.
Why, then, does it exist at all? The reading for this week may have seemed a bit academic, even to the point of counting angels on the head of the public library pin, but it highlights an important point. Somebody must believe in the essential utility, if not the goodness, of public libraries to have gone to the effort to establish them. For our fuller understanding about the public library that we know, we need to have a solid grounding in three contexts - the philosophical, the political, and the community. This was our grounding in the philosophical.
You will have read about the varying reasons why the early public library supporters justified their decision to seek public monies to support public libraries open to all (or open to all but a select group during the Jim Crow era). You will have also read later criticisms of those original supporters, criticisms that felt the original founders weren't all giants of goodness. Ponder the viewpoints - the classical viewpoint, the revisionist viewpoint, and the amalgam viewpoint - in terms of your own libraries and in terms of your own motivations.
Are you a good person who just wants the best for your fellow citizens? Or are you an elitist who "knows" what is best for your fellow citizens and wants to be sure they have what you think is good for them to have? Are there cultural values that the public library ought to promote, or should it just be in the business of providing information and entertainment?
Be honest with yourselves and look at your own motives. Why are you in this profession? Why do you support public libraries as a taxpayer? What is their essential value to you?
Finally, if you chose to read the extra readings, ask yourself about cultural and gender condescension in the public library profession. Several of you all did note that while it was, in many cases, women who were the driving force behind the establishment of public libraries and women who provide most of the work force in public libraries, it is men that are usually in the top management positions. Why has her work not been as warmly welcomed as one might expect?
Next week, we will move onto the political context, but for now, think about why public libraries have been brought into being and think about how closely or distantly you relate to the ideas expressed in the discussion of the philosophical context.
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