Most Compelling Sentence: "There are certain eminent philosophers who have emphatically announced that the sole duty of the state is to administer justice" (Quincy, 389).
I assume that Quincy is talking about Thomas Hobbes here (he is, after all, mentioned in the conclusion of the article). I never understood Hobbes very well. Not because he isn't easy to understand, but shouldn't the government (or the Leviathan) want to do something to stimulate his or her people? If whatever the Leviathan says, goes, then why can't the Leviathan grant his people a library?
"A few wealthy men have already seen that there is no surer way of benefiting their neighborhoods than by providing permanent library buildings, capable of giving the pleasure and education which fair forms and beautiful coloring afford" (Quincy, 401).
Can't the Leviathan be a benevolent Leviathan? I've always found Hobbes to be crude and simplistic. He only seemed to understand the worst of men, from the vainglorious soul to the brutal oaf's. J.P. Quincy is one of those who can see more than just a nasty, brutish and short existence, I guess.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Public Library as Dependent Variable
Most Interesting Idea: "Can the library (and librarians) be considered an independent variable that has an effect on its own development? The logical answer is yes. Construction of an explanation supported by empirical evidence, however, is not quite so simple" (Williams, 338).
I can certainly sympathize with that last sentence. Who is more likely to influence the development of the library than the people who work in it? As long as they are not keeping certain factions of people away from their library, I see actual people as shaping the library more than anyone else. Patrons are certainly a huge part of the shaping of libraries as well, however. This would be perhaps more in keeping with the Democratic Tradition Theory.
In keeping with the "Librarians shaped Libraries" theory, I can't help but think about Melvil Dewey. What single person did more to influence what the library would become other than that one man? I don't see any social theory bearing as much weight on the emergence of libraries as we know them than Melvil Dewey. He created the system by which we organize most of human history, and feminized the profession. If he did not become so unpopular within library circles, he would have likely done a lot more to change the profession.
Melvil Dewey was effective theory and action rolled into one. Perhaps there should be a fifth theory entitled "Dewey".
I can certainly sympathize with that last sentence. Who is more likely to influence the development of the library than the people who work in it? As long as they are not keeping certain factions of people away from their library, I see actual people as shaping the library more than anyone else. Patrons are certainly a huge part of the shaping of libraries as well, however. This would be perhaps more in keeping with the Democratic Tradition Theory.
In keeping with the "Librarians shaped Libraries" theory, I can't help but think about Melvil Dewey. What single person did more to influence what the library would become other than that one man? I don't see any social theory bearing as much weight on the emergence of libraries as we know them than Melvil Dewey. He created the system by which we organize most of human history, and feminized the profession. If he did not become so unpopular within library circles, he would have likely done a lot more to change the profession.
Melvil Dewey was effective theory and action rolled into one. Perhaps there should be a fifth theory entitled "Dewey".
How To Make Town Libraries Successful
Most Harris Defusing Sentence: "It is vain to go on the principle of collecting books that people outh to read, and afterwards trying to coax them to read them" (Perkins, 420).
This sentence puts a bit of a damper on the elitist tag that Harris would like to pin on librarianship.
Most "McLibrary-esque" sentence: "The only practical method is to begin by supplying books that people already want to read, and afterwards to do whatever shall be found possible to elevate tehrir reading tastes and habits" (Perkins, 420).
This reminded me of the Baltimore County library debate from later in the semester. I am on the elitist side of this argument, I guess. If you just feed people what they want all the time then they will never learn anything. People need unexpected, serendipitious experiences in order for them to grow into more complete human beings.
Second Most "McLibrary-esque" sentence: "If those who cannot make use of any better reading than novels and stories and jokes are not furnished with these, they will not read at all, and this is a worse alternative" (Perkins, 422).
I can also sympathize with this sentiment, however. Imagine how boring some people would be if they weren't even smart enough to express and have an understanding of what they really like...especially before the wider dissemination of information.
Sentence That Stands Most Starkly in Contrast with the Ditizion Article: "[I]t is vain to expect the solid and permanent success of such institutions without good business management" (Perkins, 419).
This is a little bit different than trying to keep crime off the street. Though business and humanitarian ideals do not necessarily have to be in conflict, the two ideals could not sound more separate than they do here.
This sentence puts a bit of a damper on the elitist tag that Harris would like to pin on librarianship.
Most "McLibrary-esque" sentence: "The only practical method is to begin by supplying books that people already want to read, and afterwards to do whatever shall be found possible to elevate tehrir reading tastes and habits" (Perkins, 420).
This reminded me of the Baltimore County library debate from later in the semester. I am on the elitist side of this argument, I guess. If you just feed people what they want all the time then they will never learn anything. People need unexpected, serendipitious experiences in order for them to grow into more complete human beings.
Second Most "McLibrary-esque" sentence: "If those who cannot make use of any better reading than novels and stories and jokes are not furnished with these, they will not read at all, and this is a worse alternative" (Perkins, 422).
I can also sympathize with this sentiment, however. Imagine how boring some people would be if they weren't even smart enough to express and have an understanding of what they really like...especially before the wider dissemination of information.
Sentence That Stands Most Starkly in Contrast with the Ditizion Article: "[I]t is vain to expect the solid and permanent success of such institutions without good business management" (Perkins, 419).
This is a little bit different than trying to keep crime off the street. Though business and humanitarian ideals do not necessarily have to be in conflict, the two ideals could not sound more separate than they do here.
The Humanitarian Idea
Most Idealistic Sentence(s): "The social evils which humanitarian agencies under private auspices set out to combat were also the special targets of public library enterprise. Both were equally armed to drive immoral literature off the market, to put saloons out of business by supplanting them with the pleasures of reading, and to save money normally devoted to the suppression of crime" (Ditzion, 102).
I would not go so far as to describe this sentence as "elitist," but it certainly sounds like an agenda. I do think that it is interesting that a librarian would want so dearly to change the life of a patron. It certainly validates the views of Michael Harris a little bit. The librarians described in this article don't seem to necessarily want you to read a good book...they sound like they want you off the street!
The idea of the librarian as humanitarian has not necessarily faded away entirely, either. In some ways, progressing toward a job in the library industry seems to be a bit akin to some kind of social work. Certainly, the librarian is still seen as a more caring figure relative to most other jobs.
"It is of no great consequence wheter all library promoters who used this idea were motivated by these humane and reformist aims. What is important is the convincing quality of this rationale when it was used to enlist the aid of community leaders" (Ditzion, 191).
I would not go so far as to describe this sentence as "elitist," but it certainly sounds like an agenda. I do think that it is interesting that a librarian would want so dearly to change the life of a patron. It certainly validates the views of Michael Harris a little bit. The librarians described in this article don't seem to necessarily want you to read a good book...they sound like they want you off the street!
The idea of the librarian as humanitarian has not necessarily faded away entirely, either. In some ways, progressing toward a job in the library industry seems to be a bit akin to some kind of social work. Certainly, the librarian is still seen as a more caring figure relative to most other jobs.
"It is of no great consequence wheter all library promoters who used this idea were motivated by these humane and reformist aims. What is important is the convincing quality of this rationale when it was used to enlist the aid of community leaders" (Ditzion, 191).
The Purpose of the American Library
An Inane Sentence: "George Ticknor [the liberal in a conservative family] was the son of a learned and prosperous father who sent his precocious boy to Dartmouth, Harvard, etc." (Harris, 2510).
Though I can appreciate that Harris is just trying to start a debate, I find it tiring to listen to him when he tries to slam historical characters he really could never know that much about. He himself admitted that he wrote the article without having all the facts. The significance of this article, more than anything else, was that it seems to have created some welcomed drama in the library field. It made for some pleasant conversation, and some lovely refutations from all sorts of well-known librarians, including our own Christine Pawley if I remember correctly.
It really just reminds me of the politics of personal destruction as we came to know them 1960-present. If Michael Harris was using incomplete evidence, then that is the intellectual equivalent of throwing some stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. In the end, if immigrants triumphed in the face of elitism in librarianship, then it's hard to say just what Harris was trying to accomplish (besides the feather rustling).
Though I can appreciate that Harris is just trying to start a debate, I find it tiring to listen to him when he tries to slam historical characters he really could never know that much about. He himself admitted that he wrote the article without having all the facts. The significance of this article, more than anything else, was that it seems to have created some welcomed drama in the library field. It made for some pleasant conversation, and some lovely refutations from all sorts of well-known librarians, including our own Christine Pawley if I remember correctly.
It really just reminds me of the politics of personal destruction as we came to know them 1960-present. If Michael Harris was using incomplete evidence, then that is the intellectual equivalent of throwing some stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. In the end, if immigrants triumphed in the face of elitism in librarianship, then it's hard to say just what Harris was trying to accomplish (besides the feather rustling).
Ambivalence and Paradox
Most Interesting Question: "Can the public libraries' failure to reach great masses of people be attributed so readily to the assumed elitist character of libraries and librarians?" (Dain, 265).
This is an idea I have never bought into. Whether or not you walk into a library is your choice. Even if I was a poor immigrant, I would not allow supposed elitism to prevent me from learning (if that is indeed what I felt like doing at the time). Even if libraries were unpopular among the working class (as evidenced by Free For All), if I do not let my life be dictated by social pressures now, I do not really see how you could blame an elitist streak on a public institution or its librarians. "They [the librarians] were imperfect, class ridden, unphilosophical, pragmatic human beings who seldom thought through their own ideological positions and who had mixed feelings and motives" (Dain, 264). I can certainly sympathize with that.
As for Harris's idea that librarians abandoned their neutrality, who said that they necessarily had to have neutrality? Harris has a right to make trouble if he wants, but he does not make a lot of sense. If the immigrants made "good use of library" in spite of the supposedly elitist librarians, then it's hard for me to really see much of a problem with that. In the end, I suppose I appreciate Harris's muckracking as the library profession does seem to be a bit too innocuous relative to other professions.
This is an idea I have never bought into. Whether or not you walk into a library is your choice. Even if I was a poor immigrant, I would not allow supposed elitism to prevent me from learning (if that is indeed what I felt like doing at the time). Even if libraries were unpopular among the working class (as evidenced by Free For All), if I do not let my life be dictated by social pressures now, I do not really see how you could blame an elitist streak on a public institution or its librarians. "They [the librarians] were imperfect, class ridden, unphilosophical, pragmatic human beings who seldom thought through their own ideological positions and who had mixed feelings and motives" (Dain, 264). I can certainly sympathize with that.
As for Harris's idea that librarians abandoned their neutrality, who said that they necessarily had to have neutrality? Harris has a right to make trouble if he wants, but he does not make a lot of sense. If the immigrants made "good use of library" in spite of the supposedly elitist librarians, then it's hard for me to really see much of a problem with that. In the end, I suppose I appreciate Harris's muckracking as the library profession does seem to be a bit too innocuous relative to other professions.
Manners and Morals in the Public Library
Most Interesting Sentence: "[W]e find Harris condemning the public library as a rigid, cold, moralistic and elitist enterprise while Garrison fumes about it as too homey, passive and suppliant" (Fain, 99).
While I know that librarianship is not perfect, I am among the many that thinks that Michael Harris is just overreacting in order to spark a debate in library circles. Obviously, libraries and librarians have not always been perfect, and they have not always behaved in the ways that we would have liked them to behave. Librarians have not always been brave when it comes to matters of race, but I also do not believe that librarians were out to mold society in the image of American elites, either.
I find Garrison's argument much more compelling (perhaps because I am a man). I would much prefer that a library would look like the Seattle Public Library than That Library That Looks Like My Aunt's Rec Room. In the future, I would like to see libraries become like information meccas. Even my favorite libraries have a "homey" feel as described by Garrison. At the same time, I do appreciate a friendly and helpful librarian.
The distinction that Garrison draws between school teachers and librarians is an interesting one. Perhaps if the library had a "tougher" image, it would not be so odd for me, the male of the species, to express interest in this profession.
While I know that librarianship is not perfect, I am among the many that thinks that Michael Harris is just overreacting in order to spark a debate in library circles. Obviously, libraries and librarians have not always been perfect, and they have not always behaved in the ways that we would have liked them to behave. Librarians have not always been brave when it comes to matters of race, but I also do not believe that librarians were out to mold society in the image of American elites, either.
I find Garrison's argument much more compelling (perhaps because I am a man). I would much prefer that a library would look like the Seattle Public Library than That Library That Looks Like My Aunt's Rec Room. In the future, I would like to see libraries become like information meccas. Even my favorite libraries have a "homey" feel as described by Garrison. At the same time, I do appreciate a friendly and helpful librarian.
The distinction that Garrison draws between school teachers and librarians is an interesting one. Perhaps if the library had a "tougher" image, it would not be so odd for me, the male of the species, to express interest in this profession.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)