Libraries are more than a place to borrow a book, although that would be remarkable enough.
Libraries help us achieve and explore knowledge in so many more ways. Today they navigate us through the internet and videos, recordings and toys, classes and meetings and as quiet spots to think.
That makes it sad that they now seem constantly at risk of closing — especially in the backyard of Andrew Carnegie, who seeded millions of dollars into 1,687 libraries around the country, placing opportunity into the hands of so many.
The Norwin Public Library is conducting a survey to determine its future.
“We really want to look at it to see what is feasible and necessary,” said library Director Diana Falk.
The Trafford Community Library is running on volunteer power since retirements and staff moves left it without a librarian.
A problem is that being a librarian is not as easy as shushing chattery kids and stamping books. It isn’t just shelving books. It’s curating them. It’s speaking the language of cataloging. It’s the intersection of being a storyteller, a teacher, a jobs counselor, a social worker and a museum docent.
That generally requires a master’s degree in library science. The return for that high level of education, however, can be a part-time job with a salary similar to a convenience store assistant manager.
Look at the positions being advertised and they may fall around $9,000 for a part time director in West Newton or $24,000 for a full-time position in Greensburg.
It is good that people realize the job is complicated enough to require education. It is unfortunate that the precarious position of libraries doesn’t allow those positions to be paid according to the educational demands.
If anything should tell us how important that job is, it is how little people seem to understand the deluge of information available on every cellphone and tablet.
We all carry a tiny but infinite library in our pocket, with no librarian to help us navigate fact and fiction, and a glance at social media shows how much that curator-educator-bookstamper- shusher is needed.
