SHHH!

Remember when public libraries used to be quiet places? 

We all understood that the people there were thinking--reading/studying/researching/etc.--and we were taught NOT to unnecessarily interrupt them because that level of (critical and creative) thinking was highly valued by most people. The public library was the local community’s communal thinking place…of the people, by the people, for the people. Sounds almost constitutional.

But times have changed.

Now they’re noisy…people talking out loud, playing their music, making important phone calls…you know…what to order for lunch. (Hold the mustard!) The cynic in me says this is happening because our dominant societal values no longer encourage us to care what or how others think. The individual is all that matters. Hmm.

But libraries themselves haven’t changed. It’s the people using them. Yet it’s not really the people. It’s their--our--thinking. Or more succinctly…the superficial level of our thinking. 

“It’s not my fault!” we cry. 

Well, yeah, it is…unless we want someone else to do our thinking for us which, surprisingly often, we do. Letting someone else do it may seem easier. But at what price?

There is, however, another reason for this that really isn’t our fault. It’s the sheer volume of information the world seemingly requires us to assimilate. TMI! With so much coming at us, it’s difficult to sort and shelve (never mind synthesize) one shipment  before the next truckload comes in. 

What can we do about it? 

Though we can’t stem the tide, we can remember that each of us is a living library…that the librarians at our front desk (our five senses) need to post hours when we’re simply not available…and take time to go back into the stacks, poke around just for fun, or maybe just sit down in a corner and take a deep breath. 

Shhh! I’m thinking.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD, EACH OTHER & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.