Alaskan Range: Libraries And Hard Times
"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
Columnist Greg Hill quotes blogger Anne Herbert's useful guiding thought for what may be an austere year.
New Year's arrival often prompts reflecting on self-improvement. That's why I was so delighted to discover who authored of one of my most cherished sayings, "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty." The line's creator was Anne Herbert; not the Countess of Pembroke, the sister of Henry VIII's sixth wife Katherine Parr, who also had that moniker. Our Anne wrote about random kindness in a 1995 Whole Earth Review article titled "Handy Tips on How to Behave at the End of the World," and today she blogs her thoughts on the internet at http://peaceandloveandnoticingthedetails.blogspot.com.
The same day I read about Herbert's quotation some random kindness came my way. Paul Dickson, the author of over 50 books on language and popular culture, twenty of which our library owns, sent me copies of two of his books that cover topics mentioned in recent columns, "Family Words: a Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families," and "Labels for Locals: What to Call People from Abilene to Zimbabwe."
Dickson's books can certainly ensnare the curious, and "Labels For Locals" hooked me pronto. For example, did you know that residents of Cambridge, Glasgow, and Manchester are known as Canterbridgians, Glaswegians, and Mancinians? Since the book's subtitle mentions Abilene, my old stomping grounds where the Abilenian women sometimes do treat you mean, I looked up a few other Texas places and found some mouthfuls like Larameites, Amarilloans, and Fort Worthians. However, Fairbanksans weren't listed, despite the presence of the Nomites and Juneauites (are that many vowels in a single name legal?), along with Canada's Yellowknivers and Moose Javians.
There's random kindness aplenty in Kansas City when Secret Santa II takes up his red hat, shades, and bankroll. Over a period of many years, Larry Stewart, AKA Secret Santa I, distributed over $1 million to needy people, all complete strangers, he encountered at Christmastime in thrift stores and food pantries. When Stewart died in 2007, his anonymous successor took over, passing out over $40,000 in hundred dollar bills last December.
Hopefully you are aware that some Fairbanksan Secret Santas committed similar acts of random kindness this year, and thousands of other gave their money, time, and energy to make the holidays brighter for complete strangers. How could such widespread generosity not be miraculous? The American Heritage Dictionary defines "miracle as "An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God." It's actually par for the course here among the Golden Heartitians, where random kindness is a year-long event.
The Fairbanks Library Foundation, for instance, just committed kindness to readers who frequent our public libraries by purchasing Wowbrary, a free weekly email or RSS alert service featuring the latest books, DVDs and other new acquisitions by our local public libraries. Knowing what's new allows quick reservations while guaranteeing privacy, it's "100% spam-free," and it links straight to our library's online catalog. The Wowbrary alerts are grouped into categories like "Recreation," "Personal Growth," and "Business & Investing," as well as "Mysteries & Thrillers," and many more. Interactive Sciences, the outfit behind Wowbrary, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to "research creative approaches to better connect people with the many resources available via their libraries."
It's easy to sign up. Go to www.Wowbrary.org and type in your zip code. No one's making money off this service. The Fairbanks Library Foundation paid a few hundred dollars to cover the expense Wowbrary incurs in scouring our library's online catalogs to extract the newest items for the alerts. Our Foundation raises money by selling memorial book tiles, and other items, and every penny goes to make our libraries better.
So the Foundation is our libraries' patron (in the sense of "One that supports, protects, or champions someone or something, such as an institution, event, or cause") on behalf of our libraries' patrons (in the "commercial sense of 'regular customer'"), many of whom will agree with another line from Anne Hebert: "Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
