Massillon Public Library

February 2020

A Message from the Director

Readers,

 

I was just reading something from historian and former Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin that jumped out at me on this dreary winter morning. Boorstin said that, “In our world of big names, curiously, our true heroes tend to be anonymous. In this life of illusion and quasi-illusion, the person of solid virtues who can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knownness often proves to be the unsung hero: the teacher, the nurse, the mother, the honest cop, the hard worker at lonely, underpaid, unglamorous, unpublicized jobs.” This really resonated with me because last night, my husband and I watched a disturbing documentary on Netflix, the award-winning “Generation Wealth,” about the pathologies that arise from greed and an obsession with “fame” without necessarily having any real skill. It was so well done, yet a real downer. These were people who wanted glory and, particularly, money. And, since everything that crosses my path makes me think of how it impacts the library, it made me think of the unsung heroes on our staff, and how much more I admire them than the people in that documentary.

 

If you talk to anyone at a library, you’ll find that the circulation desk clerks are the unsung heroes. That’s certainly our case, whether in the Adult or Children’s Department or at the branches. No one glamorizes standing for hours on the front lines, doing repetitive work that requires incredible attention to detail, listening to complaints or being yelled at while remaining pleasant, and never doing the fun things like planning events that get your name and picture in the newspaper. They have to become specialists in our computer system *and* amateur social workers.

 

While I have this forum, I want to give at least this public shout-out. I know that many people assume the staff gets to “sit and read” during down times, but the reality is far different. Those staff members have a ridiculously physically-demanding job. It’s a cross between Blockbuster and a factory job. Hundreds of thousands of physical items are handled each year, and the same people shelve them high and low (back-breaking!), load them in and out of ovens that kill critters (every single item, every single time it returns from checkout.) in a very hot room, and in many cases, bag materials up for shipment to other libraries and unload the shipments that arrive. I’m honestly not sure I’d last a day.

 

We are blessed to have so many long-time reliable circulation assistants that I can’t name them all in one article. But I urge you in this month of Valentines, to show some love to the person checking your books in and out. They are the backbone of the library!

 

Speaking of love, my book recommendation this month is Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks, a light novel written entirely in lists—a format that in this case is more charming than gimmicky. Daniel Mayrock's life is at a crossroads. He knows the following to be true:

1. He loves his wife Jill... more than anything.

2. He only regrets quitting his job and opening a bookshop a little (maybe more than a little).

3. Jill is ready to have a baby.

4. The bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent. Dan doesn't know how to fix it.

5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble.

6. Then Jill gets pregnant.

Maybe I loved this story a little more than I might otherwise, because MY son is going to be a first-time Dad within weeks. But I promise you, this is delightful!

Enjoy! 

 

Sherie Brown
Director, Massillon Public Library

 

 

Download the entire February newsletter.