technological libraries

My library has gone quite technological and digital on us all. I do not know what your library is like, though i hope it is not like mine.

Let's not misunderstand here; my library is new and architecturally lovely. It is full of wonderful books, cds, movies, anything you might want to entertain you. But it is too new, too crisp. I think a library should smell a bit musty, like old dusty books. I think there should be dark corners, overflowing wooden bookshelves, and tiny old ladies with tiny old lady glasses sitting under a tiny old lady lamp. In addition to aesthetics, there is no longer any human interaction needed in my library. I don't really like interacting with humans if i can avoid it, so it's weird that this would bother me. I always do self-checkout at a grocery store. No one needs to see what i am buying. And i suppose no one needs to see what i am reading, listening to, or watching. I just feel like at library a certain ritual is expected and oddly cherished.

I miss the days of going up to the counter as a young child with the many books i have picked out teetering dangerously on the brink of my forearms, handing my card that i was so proud to have to the librarian, and watching her stamp each book carefully and patiently. Each stamp was almost like an acheivement for me, because that stamp represented me. When that book was returned, that stamp would show that i read that book, and when i read that book.

These days i dont need that sense of accomplishment from reading a book (though sometimes i do feel it since i dont read nearly as much as i want to), but i still miss the stamping. When i go to the library now, i insert my card into a reader that senses the chip in it. The touch screen usually crassly and silently tells me i owe money in overdue fines before allowing me to place my findings on the sensor pad that registers each item into the computer. When i am all done with this a reciept is printed telling me when the items are due, which i shove into one of the books and dont look at again until the library's automated system calls my house to mispronounce my name and tell me i have insert-number-here items overdue .

It makes me sad to have no stamp. I loved flipping to the front or back cover to see how many times a book has been read. Some books fly through those cards and just fill them up in a matter of days. Others have only 2 or 3 stamps, clearly marking a neglected book. Now i get a book, and it has a card, but no stamps. Just a blank,untouched card. It is like the book has no history. Maybe it's never been read. Maybe it just sits in that library day in day out with no hope of attention. Maybe i am crazy for personifying bound paper and ink. Nevertheless, i do. I think its wondeful when i pick up a crumbly old book from Fairfield's library and see that it hasnt been checked out in 37 years. 37 years of no human contact. Of that information just lying there wasted. It just intrigues me so much more to find those books. It's like i have found a hidden secret, shared only by me and 12 March 1971, whoever that may be.