I recently read an excellent description of the book as “an arcane technology designed specifically for people who like to grapple with big, complex, nuanced subjects and make their own decisions.”
The book has sublimely transformative powers. It was wonderful to be reminded of this at the July commission meeting with the Jail and Reentry Services and the Read to Recovery program presentations. We learned about the power to inspire found within the covers of physical books. Not through tech.
At the August meeting you learned about the continued robust circulation of our print collections. This is remarkable when you consider the library’s heavy spending on and promotion of its eCollections. The circulation of any physical item provides a hidden bonus - it shows that somebody entered one of our buildings who might not have otherwise done so. eBook activity does not bring people inside the library.
At your October meeting you saw a presentation by Gensler and their interns called “Libraries of the Future.” Through dazzling illustrations you witnessed a transformation of this building taking your Vision 2030 as its guide and visually realizing this plan. The most striking image to me was the view from Market Street with a new ceremonial entrance. This open design with a shiny glass exterior was now designated a space of “exploration,” a “tech gallery.”
The Main Library’s actual architect, the late James Ingo Freed of Pei, Cobb and Freed, designed that space finding inspiration in the printed book, even calling it “The House of the Book.” From top to bottom, “The House of The Book” comprises the San Francisco History Center, plus closed stacks with dense compact shelving containing hundreds of thousands of books and the staff work areas of the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors, the Children’s Center and the auditorium we are in.
The Gensler firm and its interns have to be credited with providing a faithful visual representation of your Vision 2030. A vision of book removal. Some will undoubtedly remain for decorative purposes, after all a book could incidentally be a “resource” like a pamphlet or a paperclip, but Vision 2030 largely eliminates the physical book.
Yet, we live in a bibliophilic city. We support excellent bookstores, there are “little free libraries” on every other block, and we vote overwhelmingly for libraries (known to most people as places with books). Why do you uphold this bibliophobic vision of the library? Should future San Franciscans be able to come to the library “to grapple with big, complex, nuanced subjects and make their own decisions.” Shall they have books?
Rowan Jacobsen In Defense of Sunlight
