The Losing of Libraries

   In Mulcahy's Miscellany I often write about books and the collecting of them and a few recent posts have focussed on the private libraries amassed by individuals. Some people still value printed books and I stumbled upon several shelves of them last week on an island in Georgian Bay. They had come from far away and then the books had to be transported by boat and carried over rocks to the cottage.



Institutional Libraries
  The books prized by bibliophiles and kept by casual readers who, like Anthony Powell, know that Books Do Furnish a Room, are more highly valued in many homes than they are in our public libraries and universities. I suppose the complaints about collections of books by partners or spouses are more easily parried than those coming from administrators at institutions, but the complaints are increasingly hard to counter when all of the content can be captured on a thumb drive.

  I thought of the article containing the photo above when I returned home and then saw the cover of the August issue of The Atlantic which contains only these few words in very large print: "The Age of Reading Is Over." Then, I happened to see the image below which is found on the website of Western Libraries. It relates to a curious collection that was placed in the Weldon Library at the end of the last century. 

  Although the Pride Library is only closing for the summer and it is stated clearly that, "The Space Itself is Not Moving or Closing Permanently", my guess is that it will only be a sanctuary of sorts, and that there will be continuing pressure to use the space for something other than the storage of books and periodicals, even though the material is of some importance to those found in this initialism - LGBTQIA2S+.  My guess may be wrong and you can decide for yourself after reading: "The Pride Library: Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Temporary Closure."

  I used to work in some of the Western Libraries and there are now fewer of them. I have chronicled the loss of some and lamented the removal of books from the ones that remain (see, e.g. "Library Lamentations - Stackless Universities").
   I also wrote about another loss - one of the colleges/universities affiliated with Western University - Brescia University College (see, "Bad News From Brescia"). I did not note, however, that the Brescia Library also was closed. You can learn more about that lost library in the article below from Western News. The expansion was completed in 2006, but priorities do change. 

   The space is now a Pavilion which would probably satisfy the late philanthropist who passed away in 2008. She and her husband both contributed much to London and UWO (see, "Mr. Richard Ivey").

There were almost 50,000 items in the Brescia Library and they were absorbed by the other Western Libraries or placed in storage. (For the details see: "Brescia Library Integration FAQ")

  There are still two affiliated colleges attached to Western (Huron and King's) and they both have libraries that were developed over the years. I worry that their years are numbered.