With the exception of the last seven years, when we escaped to Western New York, I have been an East Coast girl. In most of the communities I lived in (there have been many) I have encountered traditional, small suburban libraries. I’m accustomed to used book sales, story hours, library tote bags and evening slide shows. So, imagine my shock and delight to discover that the Los Angeles Public Library is now hosting “late night talk show-like events” with D.J.’s, food trucks, speakers, live bands and a BAR! A real bar where you can buy grown up drinks...at the library! Really?
The cost for the December event was $15 per person or you could just show up for the concert and pay a cover charge of $5. Wow. First of all, it sounds like a blast...a party at the library...my kind event. But why? According to a blog called “The Beat of Young Los Angeles” the library is trying to make itself “cool again” (and I bet a little revenue wouldn’t hurt either). Now, there are many words I would use to describe the library (any library, even in L.A) but cool is not one of them. Part of the beauty of the library is that it’s geeky. Was ‘cool’ part of LAPL’s plan to sustain one of the largest public library systems in the world? I checked out the mission statement: ”provide free and easy access to information, ideas, books and technology that enrich, educate and empower every individual in our city's diverse communities. Definitely a cool vibe going on in the mission statement but maybe an overload for my puritan library ethic. Although, Harold Wilson (former two time British Prime Minister) would remind me that “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” Thanks Harold, even I don’t want to be an “architect of decay”...which way to the bar?.
The cost for the December event was $15 per person or you could just show up for the concert and pay a cover charge of $5. Wow. First of all, it sounds like a blast...a party at the library...my kind event. But why? According to a blog called “The Beat of Young Los Angeles” the library is trying to make itself “cool again” (and I bet a little revenue wouldn’t hurt either). Now, there are many words I would use to describe the library (any library, even in L.A) but cool is not one of them. Part of the beauty of the library is that it’s geeky. Was ‘cool’ part of LAPL’s plan to sustain one of the largest public library systems in the world? I checked out the mission statement: ”provide free and easy access to information, ideas, books and technology that enrich, educate and empower every individual in our city's diverse communities. Definitely a cool vibe going on in the mission statement but maybe an overload for my puritan library ethic. Although, Harold Wilson (former two time British Prime Minister) would remind me that “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” Thanks Harold, even I don’t want to be an “architect of decay”...which way to the bar?.
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