The relevance of any man's veracity can only be tested by logic. Political spectrum, swings to the left and right are dances in the wind for those who presuppose an untested truth. Therefore the worth of a creditable library. Every child I have ever known has spent some time in a public library. It is small wonder that autocrats and bigots seek to first empty the shelves. Truth often can and should prove troubling. In fact a successful library by definition contains something offensive to everyone.
I spent a large part of my adolescence roaming shelves and emptying catalogs. Books, books and again more books each one a pass into the larger world. Librarians attending, key keepers if you will, undervalued, often underpaid, patient, always understood. The community without library resource is simply a collection of homes surrounding blank space.
"When I graduated from High School...I couldn't go to college. So I went to the library three days a week for 10 years." Ray Bradbury's diploma was inscribed on both sides of a library card. A great author understood the magic. We should never shy away from those things which challenge us. There is an emptiness in ignorance that simple platitudes cannot fill.
It is time to recapture that inherent childhood curiosity. Nothing on those shelves should remain beyond reach, no intellectual restraints need inhibit understanding. As the pundit contends "libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?
