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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Libraries' Give The Gifts That Are Lasting & Priceless!

With the jolly holly Christmas season coming ever so closer. Now would be the perfect time make a list of the many gifts that libraries give to their community and patrons all year round. To be honest this list could be one hundred items long but for the sake of time and attention span this list will contain the most important items. Not only that but the list is easy to remember because it is categorized using the dewey decimal system. Life couldn't get easier, could it? Beginning with the 000, the area affectionately known as "general knowledge". The everyday mundane questions are answered here. What is the average size of a Bengal Tiger? Look that up in the World Book Encyclopedia (030 W). How does one figure out Windows XP? Tons of books for that in 005. So why need to go any farther than that? Seriously simple life questions are found here. However, everyone knows that libraries often go above and beyond the call of duty. If the question of life and it's meaning can be found anywhere it would be in the 100 section of the library. Yes, general answers as well as the deeper meaning of life can be found between the hallowed stacks of the library. Not to mention if one were to drift farther down the stacks they would find the world religions and might find the ultimate answers to life's deep questions. Either that or at least find their a spirituality that is uniquely uplifting. Okay corny but true. Libraries can be very inspiring and uplifting. Consider that gift number two and three. Moving along into the 300's libraries offer the gift of understanding complex organizations, rules and laws. Without libraries political think tanks would not be able to complete their research. It goes without saying that these bookshelves in this area would be bare if political figures who had the desire to run for President didn't pen their tomes. Could this be a blessing or a curse? Let's consider it a blessings for now. Language opens up communications and understanding between people. Libraries have always been about communicating, understanding and bring people together. In the 400's the dictionaries and grammar books of all languages are available for self study. If one is lucky enough, some cultural groups will gather at the library to not only teach the language but also the customs at library programs. Who needs the UN when the libraries can bring the world together through books and programming? Our modern world not have been possible without the advances made in Science and Technology. All the complex issues of the day such as understanding the functions of the human body, fixing a car or getting a view of the inside of a space rocket can all be found here. What is even more amazing is that all of these wonderful discoveries are in print for anyone to find at the library. Following the theory that all things are connected by a common thread. It is quite possible that the world would not have known the genius of Einstein if had not been for libraries. It's all here in black and white, libraries are responsible for the discovery of many wonderful scientific and technological advances in our times. What an awesome gift! The arts and literature have often held a mirror to society for the purpose of introspection. Great paintings plays and novels all contain the "view" of how society behaves or in some cases misbehaves. Whether the picture is rosy or bleak the library has kept these treasures for the next generations to enjoy. Libraries have given their community the beauty of art and appreciation of the wisdom in words. It's quite possible that Shakespeare and other great writers would never had been known if it weren't for libraries. Perhaps the most valuable gift of all is found in the 900. History. The past is a tool that can not have a value placed on it. History tells us who we are where we have been and hopefully can direct us on the right path to follow. Presidents have relied on history books to aid in decision making. One president that comes to mind Lincoln loved reading so much that it could be said that he read his way into the White House. Would it be too boastful to say that libraries have contributed to the education of some of America's finest Presidents? No not really. Somewhere in Lincoln's life there had to have been a library or two that held the books that helped Lincoln be the president he was. It isn't that much of a stretch to believe that he may have had helped from resourceful librarians. As a way of summarizing the grand list of Libraries' gift to the community if not the world The list is as followed: general knowledge the meaning of life, uplifting experiences, understandings of complex government and laws, communications and understanding of cultures, advances in science and technology, safeguarding treasures in art and literature and finally the keys to the past and the future. These are many and priceless gifts and one can honestly say, a community would surely be lost without their library.

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