» Kokoro Library - librarianship matters
I got my bachelor's degree in library and information science in the spring of 2003, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the librarianship issues in Kokoro Library. Actually, I have to say I'm quite impressed with the way the library is presented. It's very realistic, and many of the sisters' daily struggles are quite common in libraries everywhere. Kokoro Library also seems like a modern library, with computer based searches and catalogues, which is the way most libraries operate nowadays.
Many libraries struggle with a decrease in the number of customers. Children generally read less (especially boys) and reading skills are becoming worse. At the same time, libraries' collections of videos and CDs are becoming more and more popular among users. Kokoro Library is situated far away from the nearest town, so it's no wonder they have especially big troubles in getting people to use the library. They have a large collection of books though, of all varieties, and the sisters feel that they have to do something to get people to visit the library. They try to come up with various ideas, and during one discussion Aruto and Iina each represent two very opposite approaches. This is not only a discussion of how to increase the number of users, but it's also a question of what a library is basically about. Aruto's suggestion is to get more of the really popular books, CDs and videos into the library - to draw users by giving them what they want. The keyword is entertainment. Iina has a more idealistic view on the library. She thinks that the library should be a source for education, information and knowledge, and therefore they have to have more formal, difficult and older books as well. This discussion is of current interest in real libraries everywhere. It also ties in with the question of quality. Should the library buy lots of books of lets say the popular crime or romance genres, if that's what people want? Or should it focus on more traditionally "high" literature such as classics and more complex books?
Another question is whether to call the library's visitors users or customers. Aruto corrects Kokoro when she says customers and says they're called users. However, in modern theories it has been more and more widely accepted to actually call them customers. This is to get a more focus on service, and increase the importance of the people using the library.
"If people don't come, librarians don't really do anything", Iina once says. Well, that's not really true. In addition to helping customers, librarians also have to do things like taking care of new books, register them in the library's catalogue, classify them to decide on which shelf they should be, keep the shelves tidy, stay up-to-date on modern literature and much more. But of course Kokoro Library can be extremely quiet because of its remote location and there couldn't possibly be enough library work for 3 librarians...
One thing I found extremely strange about Kokoro Library is how the users are only allowed to borrow the books for 1 week. Isn't that a bit short, especially considering how troublesome it is to get to the library..? The usual is to have a borrowing period of 3-4 weeks, and since there aren't exactly long queues of people waiting to borrow the books at Kokoro Library I think they could easily have had longer borrowing periods.
"A librarian's motto is to make people happy" and "The job of a librarian is to believe in people" - these are both Kokoro's quotes. It's a bit naive and simplified of course, but I like them both because they focus on something fundamental within a library. They focus on the idealistic aspects, and the positive elements of a library - the sheer joy of reading. I haven't really thought of it that way before, but believing in people is something you do in a library. Not only do you believe in people being able to enjoy something peaceful, non-violent and rewarding such as books (not always so easy to believe when you watch the news and see so much war, hatred and misery..), but you also let them borrow books worth thousands of dollars for free.
All in all, I'd say that Kokoro Library is a library with many of the struggles and issues that a real-life library has to deal with. I have to say the library itself is quite a librarian's dream.. such a big beautiful building, in a truly beautiful setting. I wouldn't have minded working there at all. ^_^