Library News, by David W. Keeber
Red Rock News
Date: April 11, 2008
National Library Week is April 13 – 19, 2008. It is that self-congratulatory week during which libraries happily tout the many reasons they have earned the trust of and play a key role in the lives of community members. I could spend the next paragraphs listing the many services we at Sedona Public Library offer, or describe the lives we impact, young and old, every day. I would rather, though, discuss the idea of libraries as places of "civic imagination," as democratic spaces in the community.
Citizenship has many meanings. There is the civics view that is based on the person adhering to the rule of law, operating within the functions of government and the like. Citizenship also can be seen as shared values within a group, and it can also be seen as the work of public problem solving, co-creating the commons and common values, in the sense that people create society and democracy.
Of late, the commons have come under assault. There seems to be a shift from the concept of the commons as an inherent right of all people to that of public spaces owned by private individuals or business. This shift has moved authority away from us as citizens towards a top down approach to creating the set of values that guide us as a society.
Whenever people come together to meet and greet, they bring their personal experiences to the fore, comparing and contrasting a mix of ideas, creating new meanings, broadening their understandings and in the end building new societies and cultures. This is the work of the public in its broadest sense – work, both paid and unpaid, by a mix of ordinary people that builds and sustains public goods and resources. It is cooperative, visible, civic work done by a diverse mix of people.
To do this, though, more and more we need spaces that are not commercial, not aligned with one idea or belief, not determined to be for a specific use. Access to democratic space means that people have an open, inclusive commons where a diverse mix of people can interact, engage in dialogue, solve problems, and exercise civic imagination. Such spaces give encouragement to the work of envisioning what our society can and should be. Libraries are one of the very few places left in our society where that can occur.
In an age where our ideas, values and meanings are increasingly handed down by those at the top of the authority structure of our nation, the exercise of civic imagination has fallen on hard times. More spaces need to be created that allow for open discussion, the exchange of ideas and the comparing, contrasting, mixing and formation of new ideas, new culture, new forms of democracy.
That has been the charge and function of libraries all along - non-agendized public spaces with access to information of all sorts, a place where one can delve as deeply as desired into an idea with an encouraging atmosphere in which to imagine new ways of being, both personally and at the societal level. Libraries allow people to partake of civic imagination in an unorganized manner, reversing the creation and delivery of ideas from top down to bottom up. Such is the nature of true democracy. As such, libraries are truly democratic spaces.
Sedona Public Library has been the democratic space in our community for its entire 50 year history. The fact that it has twice been built by community members' own money and efforts has cemented its place in their hearts and minds as "their" library. And the belief by the Board of Trustees, the Director, the staff and volunteers that it is our charge to facilitate the community's use of this space is the result.
Sedona Public Library has served this community for half a century. We are proud of our tradition of services that can be seen as regular and traditional library services. We do them well. But, in a time where there is a great need to re-imagine our nation, our society and our way of life, this Library looks forward to serving as the ground in which many new ideas can germinate and grow. If ever there was a reason to celebrate libraries, encouraging our civic imagination is maybe one of the better ones.
Come to your Sedona Public Library and plant some seeds during National Library Week and throughout the year!
Please be sure to come to the Library between April 9th and the 23rd for our "Practically Annual Wildflower Display." With the weather so perfect, the wildflowers are in riotous profusion. If you have question about what that particular flower is, or need to learn a bit more about the plants of this region, visit us to see these sometimes-residents. Volunteers are gathering specimens from private gardens (none are picked from the wild) and you will see a wonderful selection here on display.
