Library time...

The 2nd floor library at the Bayou Bend Kilroy Center has 2 glass walls that look out over the treetops on one side, and over the downward sloping hillside on the other. Floor to ceiling windows let in an abundance of light. On Fridays, this is my home for an hour as I give the library assistant a break for lunch. It would be enough just to enjoy the quiet and the view for an hour, but then there are also all kinds of books and magazine/catalogs to browse through - more than one could ever hope to absorb about textiles, silver, pewter, American antiques, jeweelry, gardening, paintings, American and Texas history, ceramics, lamps, rugs/carpets, furniture design, architecture, and on and on. It is a delightful place!

Yes, some of this information in these printed books could be obtained online, but for me, there is just something glorious about holding a book, turning the pages, feeling the paper, smelling the book "smell", flipping through it in its full-sized glory. It's not just the learning and reading - it's the tactile, tangible experience.

What will become of our libraries? Will computer searches ever be able to replace the experience of walking through the "stacks" and pulling out something simply for curiosity's sake - something that you might never have imagined "Googling", but that caught your eye nonetheless? And what will become of the magical librarian who could help a growing child develop a love for reading magical stories? What of the quiet common spaces for curious folks to sit and take on the world not "squirreled" away from the rest of the curious folk at large?

http://www.mfah.org/research/bayou-bend-library/