I Work in a Library

Sometimes, you need to have something to write about. And sometimes there's just nothing in particular that you feel like saying, so you start looking around your room or your coffee shop for a bit of inspiration. At the moment, I happen to be sitting on one of the computers in the back room in the Valencia Branch Library, where I work. I just finished my shift and I need to write a post before I scurry off to class.

I really can't think of anything else to write about, so I'm going to talk about my library.

Well, not that it's my library, I mean, not really. That's one of the things that's always amused me, the fact that our slogan is "Pima County Public Library: It's your library." Which is true, because after all, the public pays for us to exist.

Even before I started working at this job, I've always enjoyed libraries, although it was once a more abstract appreciation than it would be now that it's a library that allows me to pay for my rent, and my food, and so on. The library is my favorite government institution and one of the things that will forever insure that I believe that government should exist, because it's an institution founded on the principle that all citizens have a right to information. That's not something that's spelled out in our Constitution, at least, not to my knowledge, and yet it's something that we all take for granted now that we live in an age where information is a click and a search engine away.

But that wasn't always the case and the truth is, not everybody has that luxury. Also, I really like to read books, although I don't enjoy paying for books as much as I used to. Which is pretty weird to think about, since if I hope to make my living as a writer, you think I'd want people to pay for books. I don't pretend to be internally consistent with my logic.

Information is a great thing; very possibly, it's my favorite thing to exist. You've already read my rambling enthusiasm for philosophy, which is currently my favorite thing to be informed about. But philosophy aside, the truth is that I just really enjoy books and I'm happy to be doing a job in which my entire purpose is not to maximize profit margins but to get people to read books and learn things and realize how much information is available in the world if only they know how to search for it.

If you're still reading me at this point and haven't wandered off to go look at the more dark and interesting (in my opinion) Monday post, take a moment to consider how good we have it, that we live in an age of information. We are situated at a unique time between having a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, but there is still so much more to know. I do fear the day in which there are no more great mysteries, if, indeed, such a day is possible. I certainly hope that it isn't, because there should always be an unanswered question that drives us.

Otherwise, what would be the point?