With All Our Heart
By Karen G. Schneider
American Libraries Columnist
Coordinator of the Librarians’ Index to the Internet.
kgs@bluehighways.com
Column for November 2001
The response of librarians to September 11 has been the ultimate rebuke to these terrible events. There is nothing good about what happened. But you can be very proud to be a member of this profession.
Our response has not been extraordinary or unusual; we did exactly what we do every day. We delivered information, listened to our communities, continued to provide our services, and were simply—and vitally—a listening, caring presence. As Tom Leonard, university librarian at UC/Berkeley, wrote in a memo distributed to staff, “We kept the libraries open to provide comfort to others, and not simply because this is our job.” (I received far more testimony than I could include in this column; read the full responses here.)
The counterattack of information
From the moment that the first plane flew into the World Trade Center, librarians worldwide were rapidly gathering resources, sharing information with patrons, uploading files to the Internet, scrutinizing information sources, and bullying sluggish agencies into faster responses. When the Web bogged down, librarians turned to television and radio; but e-mail, a lightweight, forgiving Internet tool, also proved its mettle. Discussion lists became rapid-fire information conduits and invaluable resources for locating, vetting—and in several significant cases, disproving—information.
E-mail traffic became very heavy on the reference-related lists, reported Garrett Eastman of the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who added that “one list was also used to forward dubious information, such as the Nostradamus hoax and the 30-year-old radio address from the Canadian commentator praising America.” Around the world, librarians tirelessly debunked myths, urban legends, and, in some cases, terrible hoaxes such as the many false entries in the databases of survivors.
Our users are part of what keeps us in librarianship; for every interaction with the patron from hell, we have 10 more with people who teach us the meaning of what we do. Tammy Jones of the Forest (Miss.) Public Library reported helping English as a Second Language teachers locate music and other resources for Central and South American immigrants who wanted to donate blood, help the relief effort, and “learn the words to some patriotic songs.”
Have you heard a trustee or community member ask why we still need libraries? As an Internet maven I’ve always found that specious, because libraries aren’t about books; they’re about community. Sure enough, reading rooms everywhere were filled, even as malls, theaters, and many city streets were empty. The library as “place” triumphed on September 11, a philosophy articulated beautifully by Kimber L. Fender of the Public Library of Cincinnati: “What is also important is that libraries remained open. Free access to information is an important part of our democratic society, and it is vital that libraries not allow anything to disrupt that purpose.”
Many librarians saw their service as a direct response to the attacks. Mary Zingerella of the Walworth (N.Y.)-Seely Public Library said, “In our small upstate library we kept going—open—held the programs as scheduled. When people called to see if we were open or planning to hold programs, our message was that we were here. We felt the need to keep things consistent for the children.”
With open arms
Our arms have been open. Louise Young of Fairport (N.Y.) Public Library reported an experience other librarians shared with me: “We invited patrons to gather and listen [to the president’s address] with the staff. They thanked us and seemed to appreciate being in our library, a place of sanity and stability, on that awful night.”
We are good listeners, and we know people often seek “information” simply to be able to interact with someone. Bo Simons of the Sonoma County Wine Library, in Healdsburg, California, noted that “lots of people who called for routine reference this week wanted to open up the dialogue into something surrounding the events.” Alternatively, some users leaned on more routine information-seeking as a step toward normalcy. “None of the questions I got was about the disaster,” said John Kupersmith of UC/Berkeley, “but every interaction seemed like a step in the right direction, for me and hopefully for the patrons also.”
In the aftermath
Numerous information resources emerged from September 11 to help a concerned and saddened public navigate the morass of new data, terms, and concepts bubbling out of this terrible event, notably the special edition of ResearchBuzz, Hot Topics from the Evergreen State College library, and the meta-list of over a dozen major resources produced in a special edition for the Librarian’s Index to the Internet. One resource, Webarchivist.org, is working overtime to build an archive so information created during this period is not lost.
Gaining distance from September 11 is harder for some of our colleagues. Kim Hill of the Ridgefield (N.J.) Public Library, reported that “coming to work (almost six miles from the disaster area) is almost a relief, because when I go home, I have to smell the smell, hear the sirens, see the empty skyline. At this point in time, keeping the library open and making sure we have movies, bestsellers, and a warm heart for our friends and neighbors who are hurting is all my staff or I can do.”
This, then, is the essence of librarianship: to use our skills as a way to share our hearts. Despite the pain, fear, anger, confusion, and ennui that enveloped many of us, we shared all we had, and then some.
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