The Temple of Learning

I dropped by the library the other day. I haven't been by often since the cozy days of reading a magazine in front of a crackling fire, next to the snoring dog of another patron.

In these days of big on building, short on staff, I waited outside patiently, as hours have been curtailed. Wandering up from the boulevard, I noticed that there were no benches provided, so I stood, in the rain, wondering how such a mixture of low-budget and inconvenience had landed on the footprint of a formerly quaint, yet comfortable, facility.

After the locks were turned I immediately noticed that I was not alone. Many others had been hovering nearby, seeking refuge from the weather and in search of knowledge.

Of those about me, every single one immediately pounced on a chair in front of a computer connected to the Internet. They didn't come to hold the bindings of a book, rather to do what most of us do from home: Access the Internet.

I once thought that the Internet would make library expansion a non-priority. Yet new and remodeled libraries abound, concomitant with a reduction in staffing and reduced hours of operation. I never thought that access to the Internet for those with modest incomes would be such a huge draw for the Temple of Learning.

Ironically, the library's Wi-Fi was down, disallowing my laptop access to a wider calling. My research required that I hike to the Lenn and Dixie Hannon Legacy Library at SOU, as the public facility lacked a crucial microfisch. There I found that I was one of a few within the expansive facility. I walked around and noted that another public patron had also relocated to the Shrine, as SOC had their Wi-Fi working.

It looks like we're big on buggy whips and short on horsepower.