McKim, Mead, and White for the Soul

 

(Above: Reading Room of Boston Public Library )

 

“The design and ornamentation of the Boston Public library “generated a set of social rituals”, as Sally Promey notes, that served its “cultural definition as liminal space…in which transformation in the status of individuals was presumed to occur (Augst 153).”

Art and music enlighten and are expressions of underlying social values, Confucius argues in his Analects.  Considering that design and ornamentation of Boston Public library could rightfully be called art (thank McKim, Mead, and White for its construction)—the design and ornamentation of a library could reinforce “social rituals” in someone.  These “social rituals” could be expressions of the expectation that a library be revered, and that someone should enlighten themselves through reading, an activity intimately associated with the concept of a library.