The Ideal Library

I hope Dan, my student, won’t mind me relating his ideal library to all of you. “Within a forest and on a hillside, where babbling brooks cascade down into a misty froth, sits my library. Made from ancient oaks and nestled into the hillside, my library sits with its doors open to any who wish to enter (except teenagers, of course). [He later goes on to explain why.] There is only one way to travel here and that would be by my special train. A special platform which sits off to the edge of a forest is where a book mobile/train awaits its patrons to hop on and be whisked away. The ride is a short one, but long enough for one’s mind to ease into that wonderful state of openness. Here is an opportunity to forget all the negativity that clogs the mind and blocks the passages for knowledge and wonderment…”

He goes on to say, “Naturally I would envision a library filled with nooks and crannies where one can hide away with a pile of books and not be disturbed…Below the first floor would be a similar layout of twists and turns, cozy little corners and book-chutes (also people-chutes, in case you are terribly lost and lack the energy to find the exit). I will also employ a magical unicorn to roam the hallways. Unicorns are the cornerstone of the imagination and where else would a unicorn be of service?”

“At every post, at every corner, will be an owl station. An owl (preferably Barred) who has been given the gift of fluency in over 600 million forms of communication, will be on call to serve and act as a reference librarian to patrons…Teenagers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen will not be offered this service, for these are known to be a human’s most obnoxious and immature years.”

“I want my patrons to enjoy their stay at my library. I want the satisfaction of seeing ther faces as an owl swoops down with a book in its beak for them to checkout.”

Finally, he concludes with, “I’ll have taken up a permanent residency at my library. Once in a while you may catch a glimpse of me walking through the stacks, with my thumbs in my suspenders and an owl perching on my arm…But most of the time, you’ll never see me for I’ll be hiding away in some nook or cranny of the lower level, nestling myself away in the most remote lcoation, with my nose in a book.”

I don’t know if any of these is what Dan was conjuring up, but regardless, I’m there. How about you?