Information, civic engagement, and the library

What sort of information do people need to stay connected to their world? And once they have it, what do they do with it? These two questions whirl about in my head from my initial readings from Henry Jenkins' CONVERGENCE CULTURE and lead me to wonder: Information as commodity or catalyst?

We have seen information taken at face value in a passive manner à la Paulo Freire's "banking system" where the student is the receptacle for status quo concepts and bits of "knowledge". This dynamic relies solely on the assumption that the receptacles will remain forever content with absorbing information that is neither relevant nor beneficial to bettering their lives, creating a static relationship with information as commodity rather than catalyst.

But we know that information, when harnessed to be informative and relevant, does move people to action--from grassroots organizing to stop destructive real estate developments in one neighborhood to gathering en masse in Washington to protest a presidential inauguration, information and civic engagement are natural companions.

In the 21st century, some have taken to proclaiming the death of books-in-print, crushed in the giant footprint of the internet, while others remain strong in their conviction that the book will outlast any technological trend that rear its slick and monolithic head. While questions of which output method will prove the more pertinent and viable plod on, libraries are fighting to keep their footing in their respective communities in the face of budget cuts and economic crisis. Philadelphia's Free Library branches are under fire from that city's mayor who views them as expendable in his quest to balance the city's budget and libraries in the New York City public school system are being used as staff lunch rooms and storage spaces.

One way to stop the library from being viewed as excess weight to be cut when balancing city budgets is to highlight how indispensable it is in the lives of everyday people. Why not promote the idea of the library as accessible in cyberspace just as it is in person? For those of us who are attracted to hunting and gathering information (or knowledge) via the Internet, library databases are an excellent place to begin. And for those of us who crave the heft of ink and pages upon pages, our nearest branch awaits us.

Next month National Library Week (April 12-18) is celebrating its 50th birthday. An opportunity for all of us to think about how we can make sure it's not its last.