My freshman work study job in college was at the college library. It worked out very well for me. After my initial training, I signed up for the first shift in the morning. I’ve been a morning person all of my life. The library opened at 7 am. I could report for work at 6:30, check in and shelve the books from the night depository, turn on all the lights and unlock the doors and usually have a half hour or more of sitting at the front desk before any other students entered the library. I had access to all of the reserve book reading assigned by my professors, and I learned my way around the library, which saved time when I had research papers to write.

The head librarian of our college library was a traditional librarian. Take every stereotype you know about librarians and mix them into a single person: half glasses on a chain around the neck, a very serious and quiet demeanor, a suspicion of every library patron. This librarian checked every box. She also was a very fair boss. Furthermore, she was completely unflappable. Nothing got her upset. Another work study student was careless with a paper cutter and sliced the side of his thumb. She calmly wrapped the injured finger with gauze, sent the student to the student health office and cleaned up the blood. When the same student made the same mistake and cut the same thumb a second time, I nearly threw up. Our librarian, repeated her performance and then posted a sign banning students from operating the paper cutter. Fortunately, neither cut left any permanent injury.

We tried to get a reaction out of her once. We filled an entire drawer of the card catalogue with random dummy cards, removed the rod as if we were filing new cards then pretended to be startled when she walked by, pulled out the drawer sending all of the cards to the floor. She was unfazed. She calmly said, “Look carefully before you move anything, the majority of the cards will still be in the right order.” Then she continued walking out of the catalogue area.

I did, however, work at the library long enough to see her get upset a single time. Someone had filled the popcorn maker in the break room and left it going without putting the lid on it. As the corn popped, pieces flew out of the top of the maker. I didn’t know what was going on, but saw the librarian open the door and stand in the doorway, saying “Oh! Oh! Oh!” She didn’t yell, she might not have even raised her voice, but she seemed to be frozen with surprise and just kept saying, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” as popcorn continued to fly. When I figured out what was going on, I slipped past her and put the lid on the popcorn maker. She said, “Oh, my!” and left me to clean up the popcorn from the floor.

She had a reputation of being a very strict boss, with little tolerance for students who arrived late for work. This was never a problem for me and I remember her and the time I worked at the library fondly.

I took my love of the library to Chicago when I went to graduate school, where I had access to our seminary’s modest library, the University of Chicago Divinity School Library, and the giant Joseph Regenstein Library with its five stories of collections and two levels of basement archives. With over half a million square feet the library is one of the largest buildings on the University of Chicago Campus and is divided into sections with different collections occupying different areas of the building.

Little did I know back then that one day I would grow up to be the father of a librarian. There were a lot of things I didn’t know in those days. It was impossible for me to imagine the impact that computers and the Internet would have on education. It was impossible for me to imagine how much libraries would change to respond to community needs, becoming community service centers providing Internet access for those experiencing homelessness and offering a range of maker spaces and other services not directly related to books.

Recently I learned an interesting fact about the community library of which our son is the director. The library does not have enough shelves to store all the books it owns. We like to think of libraries as places with huge collections of books and the image of banks of shelves comes to mind. But the library is much more than an archive. It is primarily a system for circulating books. The goal of the library is not to have a lot of books in the building, but rather to have a lot of books circulating in the community. A well-planned and well-run library focuses on how to get its collection out of the building and into the hands of its patrons. When the Covid pandemic forced the temporary closure of public libraries, the buildings began to fill up with books as they came due and were returned. They didn’t have space to store them all, and soon were developing systems of curbside delivery and other ways to get books back into circulation.

As a dad who loves libraries and who naturally is proud of his son, I am thrilled with the new Mount Vernon Library Commons project. It is truly an innovative way to think of what a library can be and it is really happening. With construction continuing and an expected completion date around the end of this year, the project promises to provide a true hub for the community and region. Its innovative conception and design is a model for other libraries. Here is a link to additional information.

I wonder what my old college librarian would think of this project. I suspect her reaction wouldn’t be all that dramatic, but I bet it would at least elicit an “Oh! Oh! Oh!” from her.