On libraries

I visited the Fincastle Library today. It was the first day the branch was open for business on a Saturday, and as a member of the library board I thought it behooved me to trot over and see how things were going.

Swimmingly, it turns out. I counted five people on the internet sign-up sheet as of 10:30 a.m. - one had signed up within five minutes of the doors opening - and one person in the genealogy room doing what genealogist do.

This pleased me greatly. I love to see a well-used library. I checked out a book-on-tape. I have been listening to the books in this library for a very long time. A while back I started picking authors from each letter of the alphabet, listening to every work the library had of that author, then moving on to a new letter. I am up to "S" and I am listening to Danielle Steel. I had never read any of her books, although I had certainly heard of her.

She is a romance novelist, very prolific. The first book I am listening to is called The Long Road Home and for the first entire cassette I wondered if I was going to be able to finish the book. Thankfully we have the heroine grown out of a very tortured (and more show-than-tell) childhood and are moving on to the romance part of it, so it is better listening.

I picked up a second book, with a title I can't recall because I simply pulled it off the shelf because it had Steel's name on it, with the hopes it will move along better. I am slightly amused that such a prolific author might be the first one whose books I skip, and I move on to "t".

How did I get onto that? I wanted to write about the City Library, not books! Specifically the plans to renovate it.

Renovation is a good idea. The downtown branch has a lot going for it, namely The Virginia Room. That's a treasure trove of history that needs nurturing and care. But the rest of the facility is not user friendly.

The stairs are difficult, the elevator and some hallways are scary, and space isn't utilized well. It's not designed for an internet world.

The location? Parking has never really been an issue, but then I always pay to park because that side street is a dead-end with a lousy turn-around. I never go down there at night, though.

Many homeless people gather at the library. Libraries are public and they have every right to be there. But some of those down-an-out folks scare me. I hate admitting that, but I was once accosted downtown by some poor fellow who wasn't in his right mind. He scared the bejeezus out of me. I ended up running away to no avail. So I ducked in a shop and called the police for an escort back to my office (this was when I worked downtown).

I guess an incident like that lingers with you. Actually, because of it I'm not crazy about downtown, period. I haven't been downtown since last March, and it'll probably be next March before I go again.

Which is again off-topic, sort of, but hey, it's Saturday night and my mind is roaming.

In any event, I am all for libraries, renovated or otherwise. They are the true containers of democracy, the spot where free-thinkers can meet other free-thinkers, even if it's in books. Libraries are the depositories of the great thoughts of mankind, and I love the looks of them, the smell of them, and the laughter inside.

Build more libraries for better tomorrows.