Mary Dolan Times
MARCH 2017
Blog
A GEEK'S DILEMMA
|
|
A Geek's Dilemma
Category: Life
I came to library to work in a quiet, cerebral environment. I trulyCategory: Life
believe in the free exchange of thought, idea, and philosophy so the
library was a natural choice for me. I have enjoyed witnessing the
seekers of knowledge come through our doors and find answers to their
many and varied questions.
But tonight, we have BINGO. BINGO?! Yep, and with prizes too! In
between games we'll be showing folks how to play Wii games as well. You
see, the library has become more a community center, movie & music
loan, entertainment zone, arcade and Internet cafe (without the coffee,
though I expect that will be coming eventually).
There are still the seekers, and I am greatly pleased that we are able
to point people in the direction of job searches and resume creation in
these hard economic times. But these things have taken a back seat to
the trend toward an atmosphere of common consumerism. Our goal today is
to increase our stats - get more people in the door, participating in
programs, checking out materials.
I understand that an increase in these numbers helps to justify the
library's presence to the powers that fund it, and that it will help us
all in the library system to keep our jobs.
But what happens to the poor schlubs like me who came to the library
because they believed in the importance of a space to think, learn and
grow? What do we do when it hurts too much to see what's happening, yet
have nowhere else to work where we really belong?
I am hoping and praying that for me the answer will be in a transfer to
cataloging, where I can quietly process incoming materials, stumble
upon goodness and pass the info on to seekers like myself.
Categories: None