More Than Just a Fence

Anyone who has checked out a stack of books at the library or purchased some new reads at the bookstore knows the wide range of feelings that manifest themselves at the checkout counter. On a good day, it is smug pride; that nice big pile of classics on the counter showcases good taste and mature thinking. On other days, it is defensive embarrassment—yes I am about to turn twenty-seven, yes, I am buying another Harry Potter book, and yes it is for myself. Sound familiar?

The books we read sometimes feel like extensions of who we are; after all, they reflect our interests, passions, and the occasional guilty pleasure.  It seems like a violation of privacy to have to share your secret love of Stephanie Meyer with the women swiping your library card and giving you a “due by” date.  The firm walls of the counter that do such a good job of defining the boundary between customer and employee do nothing at all to save you from the embarrassment caused by the violation of an emotional boundary that you have would rather kept under lock and key.

Boundaries can be considered in two ways. The first is physical boundary, which is a real or imagined line that defines the farthest limit of an area. The second is personal boundaries, which are guidelines a person establishes to identify permissible ways for other people to behave around her and how she will respond when people move outside of those limits.  These two types of boundaries are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they are too deeply interrelated to be separated. An individual’s personal boundaries may include boundaries of both their physical and emotional self. Similarly, a collective entity, such as a country, may define an international border by a river, mountain range, or some imagined line, but the boundaries of a country also include less tangible boundaries such as those of personal liberties and freedoms.

Both definitions can be applied when considering boundaries in a public library setting, as a library is an extension of both the individual and the community to which he or she belongs. Books contain the personal boundaries, or identities, of those who write them. According to authors G. B. and J. S. Lundberg in their book I don’t Have to Make Everything All Better, personal boundaries help to “define you as an individual, outlining your likes and dislikes, and setting the distances you allow others to approach”.

Physical boundaries can vary from the most basic (the fence surrounding a residence) to the very complex (an international boundary that differentiates one country from another). The river and fencing dividing the United States from Mexico are more than physical features of the landscape, although in many instances the Rio Grande or the guard towers are powerful physical reminders of the tensions between the two countries.  The fact that the border is guarded so heavily indicates a different set of boundaries, those legal boundaries that each State defines for its citizens and industries.  Industries from the United States establish factories on the Southern side of the border, where relaxed labor and environmental laws decrease overhead costs and increase company profits. And every year, thousands of individuals risk their lives by crossing the border illegally, hoping for a chance at a better life, one that allows individuals the freedoms of speech and press and assembly.

The border between the Unites States and Mexico--the symbolism stretches even further than the fence.  (http://www.relaxedpolitics.com/2009/08/better-than-any-fence/)

Public libraries, which are funded by the state, are an especially apt indicator of what those established boundaries of civil liberties are within the state. The books contained within the walls of a library (as well as the types of people who are allowed to use them) say just as much about the country that houses the library as that stack of books you may have checked out with head held either high or low.

In the United States, the expansion of civil rights from the time of the country’s founding until today has paralleled the evolution of the library system. In colonial times, most library collections were privately held by wealthy individuals such as doctors and lawyers, or by the churches and colleges they attended. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and some of his literary friends banded together to create a “social library”, where they pooled their resources and shared their books with members of the learned elite.

Around the same time, the idea of the circulating library was taking hold. To become a member, a person had to buy stock in the library. Circulation libraries expanded the social library by including popular reading materials, such as novels, in addition to scholarly reading materials.  They were still restricted to the elite, however, and mostly men at that.

Finally, in the 19^th century, the public library system was born as a combination of the previous types of book lending services.  In 1848, The Boston Public Library was founded as the first free municipal library in the United States.  Their mission statement included assertions that there is a close linkage between knowledge and right thinking, that the future of democracy is contingent on an educated citizenry, that there is a strong correlation between the public library movement and public education, and that every citizen has the right of free access to community-owned resources.  Despite their lofty intentions however, access to public libraries remained difficult for the lower classes—their hours were restricted to day-time use, when the working classes were unable to get to them.

The social reform movement of the 19^th and 20^th centuries continued to parallel the expansion of equal access to public libraries.  It is Andrew Carnegie who is largely responsible for making public libraries truly accessible to all classes of citizens.  He donated millions of dollars to fund over 2,000 public libraries in the English-speaking world.  A self-educated man who became a millionaire, Carnegie is famous for publicly stating that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes to the poor. 

The Civil Right’s Movement of the mid-19^th century continued the march toward truly equal access to public libraries.  Now in 2012, thanks to the combined efforts of many men and women throughout several centuries, the boundaries of both the United States and Her public libraries have expanded to include people of all genders, races, and classes within their walls.