“Deep-versed in books and shallow in himself.” John Milton

23rd May 2008

We in the library world have been subject to merciless stereotyping for so long that even we begin to believe it after a while. See how the images thrown our way by a biased media have affected my poor co-workers:

Colleagues relate to me that they often find themselves unconsciously pressing their index finger to their lips and hissing ‘shhhhh!’ at noisy friends, family … and even strangers!

Male co-workers report that they feel a magnetic pull towards tweed jackets.

Female co-workers mysteriously arrive at work in twin-set, pearls and their hair in a bun.

Male co-workers feel a magnetic pull towards leather elbow patches on tweed jackets.

The horror, the horror

So, when served a piece of positive news, can you blame library staff for pouncing on it like a starved cat would a fish platter?

Here is Junot Diaz – Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - on libraries and librarians:

“I never understood the image of librarians in popular culture. Old, sort-of doddering – every librarian I ever had was incredibly young, energetic and hip – even if they were 60 … In the end, the only forest really worth being led through is the forest of the mind, books. In a sense librarians are these incredible scouts for this inner frontier.”

Excellent stuff!

The only problem today is that the forest of the mind has become a jungle: sharp mental machetes are required to prune the dross. Around 120,000 books were published in the UK last year alone (The Bookseller), meaning that there was one published for every 500 people! The UK is – in numerical terms at least – one of the healthiest cultures in the world. (Iceland beats us with one book published for every 290 people – I suppose those long, dark winters mean everyone is shut inside writing or reading)

Unfortunately, the short shelf life of each book (remember, they must make way for another 120,000 the following year) means that the culture becomes more disposable (the same is happening with music): as the books of the hour pile up, who now can discover the books of all time?

Anyway, I digress.

Junot Diaz’ quote seems to imply that being linked to the culture of the mind somehow keeps you younger: This seems appropriate in this NYR month of Mind and Body. It would be nice if our culture paid as much attention to what we put in our minds as we do our bodies.

Imagine an alternative world, a world where literary Gillian McKeiths/Jamie Olivers berate people for their taste in books (if you don’t read Middlemarch or Plato’s Republic by the time you’re 30 you’ll be dead!) … or where a literary Alan Sugar hires and fires people for failing to know their Dickens from their Toni Morrison. Fun … but the diversity of taste being what it is, a little unworkable.

Still, come down to the library and celebrate the world of books in all its glorious variety: it may keep you younger than all the face creams in the world. (I promise there will be no literary Gillian McKeiths, but I can’t promise a complete lack of elbow patches, though)

To read the rest of the interview with Junot, conducted as part of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, click here.