To the editor:
Re: "Libraries court public opinion 'Free-for-all,'" Feb. 15.
A book appears to escape as Ms. Singh triumphantly ascends to the shredding chamber. "Re-Inventing Your Library" sounds ominously like a book-burning proceeding starting afresh. That "we're not about books- that's not what we're about, really" is a gigantic misrepresentation of the public library's origins, development and contemporary agenda. The open book is an enduring "iconic symbol" of accessibility to "cultural expression, personal capacity building, enjoyment."
Meanwhile, as VPL's "Executive Corridor" leads us into doing things differently and doing different things, this grumpy old man is indebted to the floor staff for skills of research and retrieval, initiative and patience. May they delight in the digital and investment in the Internet, never upstage but compliment the "hard copy."
Rev. David G. Hawkins, Vancouver
