A friend told me that she had to do something this morning that she feared to do so, just a little.
She had to go to the Library.
This lady is a psychologist, well educated, smart and not afraid of anything, normally.
She told me that in grad school all she needed to do was write down the list of resource materials she needed and hand the list to the librarian, who then searched and collected the books for her.
This was not going to happen on this trip. She would have to research the books she needed and go find them herself.
We joked about walking into this massive room filled with row after row, after row of shelves. Shelves from the floor to the ceiling, far beyond our reach. Each shelf containing hundreds if not thousands of books.
We joked about wondering where to start. Would there be someone there to support her as she searched for those three or four books that she needed out of millions of choices?
We joked about how she would search. Would there be a micro-fiche available? Did the library still have the card files? Would there be a computer system with all the information? Would she remember how the Dewey Decimal system worked? Would there be someone there to help her when she got overwhelmed or lost in the abyss of books?
Preparing to write this post, I googled Dewey Decimal system. Check out this video – it’s funny.
I’m going to call my friend later today. I hope she found what she was looking for in the library and survived the experience. Not that it’s a new experience, but because it is slowly becoming an adventure of the past.
Maybe she gave up and went to Itunes or Amazon. We’ll see.
Teddy Burriss 