I’m a fan of rants and manifestoes (especially when I agree with what’s being said) and I’m a fan of LibraryThing. Throw both of those in a blender, add some chocolate syrup, and I’m one happy camper.
And so, Tim Spalding’s latest post on the Thing-ology blog: “Is Your OPAC Fun? (a manifesto of sorts).”
When I was in college, I rarely went to the library to do homework. That may sound shocking for a librarian to say, but the reason was this: it was too hard for me to get any serious work done. The library was too much fun for me. Wandering the library labyrinth, getting lost in the stacks, stumbling upon fascinating books and periodicals I hadn’t realized I was looking for, meeting other people and having conversations–that was my library experience.
I didn’t become a librarian because libraries perform an important public service. I didn’t become a librarian because I wanted to help people find information quickly and cleanly. Not really. I became a librarian because I discovered libraries are fun and sexy. And I want to help other people discover that, too. The OPAC, the library website in general, the physical library itself should be a memorable experience, fun and exciting and weird. Libraries should be about “exploration, serendipity,” and getting “entertainingly lost.” And yes, libraries should get you laid.
Using a library shouldn’t be work, it should be play.
Let the games begin!
2 Comments
I’ll drink to that!
Totally true — I try to get work accomplished in libraries every now and again, but end up finding some obscure book on transportation technologies in Amish culture and not getting a single thing done. Well, not a single thing except for learning a lot of interesting information about buggies.
Libraries are cool.