One of the reference librarians (who, like the department president, was also a nun) talked to another librarian. One of the central tenets of this book is that, however long human life expectancy may be in the future, it will never approach that of libraries.
LIBRARIES AS HEAVEN
As the only Jew to work in a Catholic university library—perhaps because of it—I was well aware that I was fulfilling a secular function in the library. I quickly realized that there are many religious characteristics present in the library's secular setting.
SACRED AND SECULAR BLURRING
Rather, this book addresses the hidden religious aspects of the non-religious use of secular libraries. Beyond the appearance of the building, religious institutions use the techniques of the secular world, especially those of business.
SPIRITUAL, NOT RELIGIOUS
One of the most widely held, and in my opinion compelling, explanations for the collapse of the religious and non-religious spheres can be found in a sea change in the contemporary American religious scene. One of the reasons Americans feel free to describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" is that religion in America has moved away from being "attributed."
SECULAR SPIRITUAL SPHERES
This dish represented to him the culinary solution of the intercultural conflict between competing religious and secular cultures. Similarities between the roles of librarians and members of the clergy are the subject of chapter 2.
CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY
One explanation for the success of the Genesis Project is that, by presenting theology in an intelligent, thought-provoking style, the program allowed people to acknowledge and discuss their confusion on the subject of God. Religious scholar Amanda Porterfield argues that many Americans paradoxically try to bring God down to earth.36 One of the problems with traditional images of God is that they usually evoke a supernatural, otherworldly being.
IMAGINING A LIBRARY GOD
This image of the Great Library receiving and nurturing illustrates the notion of God Strength. Lord Force can be equated with Ranganathan's law of the library as a growing organism.
LIBRARY PRAYER
Beyond this medical information, others come to the library seeking emotional support in dealing with illness. Karl Marx was surely praying to the liberating God as he read every day in the public library.
LIBRARIANS IN MINISTERIAL ROLES
Music Man features librarian Marian as a spunky spinster dedicated solely to the moral upliftment of society. From the beginning, librarians have been among the best educated in the population by virtue of their reading skills.
EXPLAINING LIBRARIAN/CLERGY SIMILARITIES Personalities
Although it is difficult to identify personality traits that are common among librarians, similar characteristics can be identified among famous librarians of the past. Similarities can be found not only in the personalities of librarians and members of the clergy, but in the values that underlie both professions.
TAMING CHAOS BY NAMING AND ORGANIZING
Especially in the electronic age, people drown in the sea of information, unable to anchor on any solid ground. Other metaphors for the divine, such as God the Strength, God the Healer, God the Deliverer, can also be imagined and applied in libraries.
LIBRARY AS ORGANIZED WISDOM
One frequent symbol of this imagined organized universe was, and still is, the tree. Unlike the overwhelming, limitless ocean of information, the tree of knowledge is finite and easily grasped.
CATALOGING AND CLASSIFYING
However, she did so without recording any bibliographic information about the journal's provenance. The Librarians can mercilessly wipe all knowledge off the face of the earth and civilization altogether.
HISTORICAL ROLE OF LIBRARIANS AS KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZERS
What makes the librarian's power even more astounding is the comprehensive nature of the organized system that libraries have created. The schedules are developed according to logical principles.” The logic of the universe is reflected in the logic of the system.
ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Even without questioning the process of organizing knowledge, it could be argued that libraries never adequately performed the task in the first place. In the space between the words, in the margins, she found the "juicy moments of life and spirit and friendship."
CONSTANT CHANGE AND NEED FOR PERMANENCE
And so we long to unite with something or some institution that will remain the same, or at least give the appearance of permanence in our very indefinite world. A precarious balancing act is required for any institution to provide a sense of permanence in this temporary world.
INSTITUTIONS AS LIVING ORGANISMS
Organizations that survive must constantly change to remain relevant, while appearing unchanged in the process. They must be buried because "the contents of books go to heaven like the soul."8.
COMMUNAL MEMORY
As Goethe said, libraries serve as "the memory of mankind". The library does not need to memorize the 169 commandments of the Bible. Longfellow said that libraries contain everything, both "the ruins of the ancient world and the glories of the modern." The Internet has been described as a sea of information.
IMMORTALITY THROUGH WORDS AND BOOKS
Putting your words permanently on the library shelves is only part of the process. Examples of the importance of the spoken word can be seen in the frequent instances in the Bible of giving a blessing or an oath.
LIMITS TO LIBRARY IMMORTALITY
An analysis of a 19th-century Charleston library collection found several books still on the shelves today. Librarians also want to spread the "good news", but their word is not the Gospel word, but the words of all the Gospels.
RETHINKING SIN AND SALVATION
The use of guilt in libraries to encourage individual self-improvement is part of a larger redefinition of the concept of sin and redemption. Only a layer of cellulite stands between [the individual] and happiness,” observes Judith Wright, author of There Must Be More Than This.9 “If only I could get thin,” thinks the average overweight American, “then I will feel good about myself.” And feeling good about yourself is necessary for—if not the definition of—personal salvation.
LIBRARIES AND SALVATION
One of the first crowdfunding efforts in America began in the 1900s and was a precursor to the public library movement in this country. This dimension of the divine, known in the Bible as the Wrath of God, can be seen as Yahweh thundering from Mt.
THE LIBRARY’S PARADOXICAL ROLES
Buried in this ironic use of libraries is the deep, intricate interplay of the library's public and private roles. To the credit of the profession, in the library respect for privacy still prevails.
SIMILARITY OF CHURCH AND LIBRARY
Libraries that were built later could take advantage of what he called "one new practice that contributed more than any other to the desired study ambience of the library: the carpet."17 Religious believers seek peace in their houses of worship as an escape from the hustle and bustle of the secular world. .
FEATURES THAT ENHANCE SPIRITUALITY AND AUTHORITY IN THE LIBRARY
Beyond the physical location of the building, architectural and psychological elements contribute to the sense of sacredness of the library. The physical placement of the reference desk in libraries was also used to confer authority on the librarian and make users cringe in her presence.
CONTEMPORARY LIBRARY BUILDINGS
One of the most contentious debates in my house of worship was about the height of the pulpit. Angle as quoted in Griliches, Library, vii; Antin as quoted in Battles, Library, 199; Griliches, Library, 59.
NEED FOR AND SOURCES OF COMMUNITY
When the home and workplace fail to provide enough help—and usually fail because the need is too great—the resulting stress and strain can be disastrous. Communities are also vital to maintaining what one historian called "a healthy social order." The founding fathers of the USA
LIBRARIES AS COMMUNAL SPACE
Libraries are the contemporary version of the common resource: the shared meeting place for everyone in the community. Both the historical record of civilization and the history of history can be found in the library.
SILENT AND SPOKEN LIBRARY COMMUNICATION
Some might argue that verbal and non-verbal exchanges about what to read next do not constitute a community, at least not in the classical sense of the word. However, if community building is seen as a central role of the library, the use of this common communal resource fits perfectly into this mission.
LIBRARY VALUES THAT PROMOTE COMMUNITY
In the 1700s, the library was described as an institution for which “the curious and impatient inquirer . The library's emphasis on the free exchange of ideas may seem pedestrian to Americans, but it is remarkable in much of the world.
STORYTELLING
Although the term "indoctrination" is sometimes pejorative - bringing to mind communist-style brainwashing - it is a necessary component of cultural transmission. Along with the history of the library, other forms of cultural transmission can be found within the library building.
RITUALS
In fact, many famous authors acknowledge how accessing the library's riches changed their lives. One of the most important lessons cultures must pass on to the next generation is sexual information.
LIBRARIANS MUST SPEAK OUT
Librarians are also like ministers, missionaries of the mind who show the way to intellectual salvation. READ" posters, library guides, information literacy, teen advisory groups, tutoring help are just a few of the worldly strategies librarians use to help patrons themselves.
LIBRARIANS MUST DEMAND LIBRARIES AS SPIRITUAL, SACRED SPACE
I am convinced that the library will remain as a physical entity - not only because print is here to stay (discussed below), but because of the powerful emotional appeal of the library. Indeed, there is a spiritual quality to the use of the library that is real, though greatly underappreciated.
LIBRARIANS MUST REMEMBER SPIRITUALITY OF BOOKS
Fifteen people died and dozens were injured as a direct result of the book's symbolic power. However, because of this reverence for the physical book item, disposal of unnecessary materials can be complicated.
LIBRARIANS MUST DEMAND SPACE FOR BOOKS
Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the recent scandal over the US's alleged desecration of the Koran, Fifteen people died and dozens were injured as a direct result of the book's symbolic power. Although remote storage is being forced into many libraries due to lack of shelf space, the ability of users to browse the shelves at their leisure should be preserved.
LIBRARIANS MUST DEMAND LIBRARIES SERVE AS COMMUNAL SPACE
It has been suggested—though I cannot credit any source for the idea—that books intended for library circulation be published with several blank pages bound in the back of the book for reader comment. Imagine the time that could be saved if a cookbook was marked with a handwritten note in the back: "The double chocolate brownies were excellent, but skip the chiffon cake." An English faculty member would have greatly benefited from such a system.
LIBRARIANS MUST BALANCE LIBRARIES’ PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNCTIONS
Building on the fact that libraries allow and encourage person-to-person transfer of physical books, these blank pages would aid the process by letting people's reactions travel along with the books. Imagine the time that could be saved if a cookbook came with notes with a handwritten note in the back: "The double chocolate brownies were excellent, but skip the chiffon cake.".
LIBRARIANS MUST CONTROL CHAOS
Somehow, libraries must maintain the vibrant social aspect of their mission while supporting sanctuary and quiet. Academic research would almost cease without an organized way to find and access specific knowledge.
LIBRARIANS MUST TRUMPET THEIR ABILITY TO UPLIFT INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY
The civilization could indeed be rebuilt through the preserved knowledge on the library shelves but only if the system of information control also survived. As humanities librarian Eric Novotny has put it, a gulf exists between "the idealistic rhetoric in the library literature and the actual results."18 But librarians can take heart that, even in these cynical times, librarians remain at least idealistically optimistic. .
LIBRARIANS MUST REMEMBER THAT THEY TRANSMIT CULTURE AND IMMORTALITY
Engineers, mathematicians, philosophers and kings: whatever the person seeking or the problem to be solved, the library's shelves hold the answer. In its custody of books and the words they contain, the library has confronted and tamed technology, the forces of change, the power of princes time and time again.
SPIRITUALITY OF LIBRARIES AND FUND-RAISING
Since decisions about memorializing someone are sometimes made on the spur of the moment, libraries would benefit by making available an easy way to designate the library as the financial beneficiary through scheduled donations. For those who have not pre-planned their donation, libraries can provide a method of designating the library as the source for commemorative gifts, perhaps by working with funeral homes or obituary writers.
SPIRITUALITY OF LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIAN RECRUITMENT
From outside to inside: the library in the lives of its historical users." American Library Association. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press in association with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, 1996.
