I have loved the library since the day I got my first library card and checked out “Make way for Ducklings” at the impractically magnificent (a round library imagine!) Framingham Public Library.
Libraries are free candy stores for the mind and soul.
UNESCO’s Manifesto calls the library “a living force for education, culture and information…an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of men and women..”
In ancient times libraries were temples where people gathered to share and learn and grow. The library is more than just a place to borrow books, dvd’s and fishing poles. It is a place to meet with friends, to learn how to knit, or touch a live wolf, to fall in love and to escape. The library is the heart of town, the place you see everyone and a lifeline to a neglected child, a new mother or a lonely widower.
Shutesbury is a small rural community 30 minutes from anywhere. Electricity was welcomed by a cheering crowd in 1930 and half the town still lacks cable or high speed internet. The MN Spear Memorial Library, “where space age technology meets colonial era cleaning methods”, was built in 1902 for $1547.61 and has outgrown its 768 square feet.
I want a library with a flush toilet. A library where you don’t get whacked by the door while checking out books. I want a library where I can dance, visit with friends, read the newspaper or check my email and drink a cup of coffee. I want to honor those who came before and leave a legacy for my children. I imagine a library with a winding path, gardens, a cozy place to use wifi on a sunny winter afternoon. I see a bustling community center, an opportunity for people to share their talents and strengthen families and community. I see a jewel of an energy efficient building, sensibly built with community effort that carries forward the spirit of our library.
In its report to the town in 1900 the board of Library Trustees addressed the residents of Shutesbury by stating “Your Trustees have to report a steady growth and patronage of the institution, the management of which has been placed in our hands. We are continually short of room for storing the ever accumulating volumes coming to the Library. The voters of the town will have the opportunity at the town meeting to act..."
Their future is our past and again we stand on the threshold of history. It is time for our little library to grow up.
Karen Traub
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