Tuesday, August 23, 2005
I am just back from a research mission that took me to several European libraries, one of many such trips in my career across several continents because I am a career literary scholar and a past Guggenheim Fellow. It was nice to come home, however, and enjoy our beautiful campus, as well as the neo-Gothic architecture of Watson Library, centrally located to be our showcase. That library was the specific reason I came to the University.
Once inside this neo-Gothic building, I wondered if I had blundered into the wrong place. The reference desk, vital to scholars, was gone. A sign hung over the former check-out counter, displaying the word, “Information.” Rows of apparently brand-new computers replaced what libraries are supposed to be for: books. The reference volumes had been shoved far to the back, with only the wooden ends of their cases showing.
Now that the books are behind the scenes, what we have is a replica of a post office or an Internal Revenue Service building. I wonder how much all these computers cost, considering that most faculty offices and students already have them. This place is suitable only for technocrats, not for scholars, and the administration could do better than this soulless lobby.
Beverly M. Boyd
Professor of English
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