Gabrielle Buchanan

Classification and categories only produce even more subcategories and deeper classification thus separating literary work, people, and ideas even more than they already are. Emily Drabinski article brought up the idea of misrepresented groups in the library that lack social and political power, after just finishing my Anthropology midterm early today my mind has been pondering the idea of how culture and power are related. What is accepted as a “social norm” taught through Antonio Gramsci Hegemonic ideology, is what is normal in the media, schools and religious institutes- identifying as a homosexual has never been unanimously accepted. Thus literary works that are associated with that ideology lack proper representation in libraries. It is in human nature to classify; our brains do it without us even noticing we put things into groups and categories based on similarities. The main trouble with classification is that it continues to foster the divide, we have created and socially accepted. The divide between races, genders, religions and now sexuality. Drabinski’s article made me think, do we need a classification system in libraries? Sure, having one makes it easier to find books and library work faster but having one also allows us to segregate books like we separated people based on skin color….We are now isolated books based on theories. I think organization in libraries is key to keeping everything in order, and order is what civilizations are all about, but constant categories and subcategories are diving literary works that might be in conversation with each other. I personally feel like categories sets limits to who will consume the text, which in return is restricting the number of people that will be open to reading a text that is classified in a category they will never think to look under.  How do we subconsciously break the mold of categorization when it is deeply rooted in our minds and behavior?

My personal library spans from digital to physical and even I few oral traditions, I recently wrote down for a project. I feel the most important part of my library would be the oral traditions that I recently recorded as they are passed down from generations of my ancestors telling the story of how my family immigrated here from Italy.

Growing up, I heard my grandmother talk lots about her parents and her life but never thought to record it; luckily my Gallatin professor made us tell our family immigration stories as a final project. I fear that my grandma is getting older and these precious memories will be lost… without these memories and stories, my family would have lost its identity… where we come from and how we go to where we are today.

One of the most valuable stories that have been transcribed from memory to paper is the story of how my grandparents met, a real life Nicolas Sparks book.  At the young age of sixteen my grandma was cutting US history class,  she says “I didn’t have to go to get an A.. I was just smart like that” as she was walking down the street a young, men dressed in a 5 piece suit pulled up beside her and asked her if she wanted a ride. Of course, she refused, some stranger asking her to get in his car….she wasn’t dumb. But you know what they say, persistence overcomes resistance and eventually she agreed to let him drive her home. Long story short that one ride home lead to marriage and business partnership that has last through the times. Stories of this magnitude should be preserved and passed on to the next generation, and the best way that is possible is by recording it and putting these stories on paper.

 A few things struck me when I was reading these three essays, but the main point that stood out to me was in Manuel’s “Library as Imagination”, a quote on pg.271 ”In the light, we read the inventions of others; in the darkness, we invent our stories.” This quote stuck in my head till after I was done reading this essay, simple because I was relating it to my childhood when in the day time after returning home from school I would read endless Dr. Success stories but never dare to try to make up my story. “In the light” (pg.270) of the day, I was reading mostly because reading would transport me from my reality into this whole other world, taking me to made up places that I couldn’t even comprehend. But in the night (darkness) I would lay in bed until my eyes hurt from staying open, telling my mom stories. Most of the stories I used to tell her were stories about me having super powers, or traveling around the world… all made up stories. I had imagined my library, a separate library from my physical, tangible library at home… this library was restricted solely for me and whomever I would share these stories with. This library in my head was of “imaginary books” (pg. 283), as a child I was allowed the “pleasure of creation without the effort of research and writing” (pg.283). But where did those stories go? As the years progressed, I started to use my imagination less and less, those stories have been tucked deep into the back of my subconscious, or they may even be lost as the years progressed. I guess that would be the biggest problems with imagination libraries; there is no physical record of the book or story. That is how oral tradition is lost because it is almost never collected and written down- think about the thousands of stories we lost throughout the years of our ancestors and their journeys.

The second point that struck me was in  Homi Bhabha’s “Unpacking my Library Again”, in the first paragraph Bhabha poses a question, “Does the order of books determine the order of things?”  If there were a definitive answer to this question, I would love to know. But from what I gather is that he was trying to point out that disorder sends a signal to the human brain that worries us, some people get anxiety when walking into a room and it is “disorderly” or simply messy. The disorder sets off an alarm in our brains that trigger the feeling of chaos, yet as I look at my personal library, all I see is a disorder. My books are not arranged in alphabetical order like NYU bookstore nor are they organized by genre like Strand Bookstore, frankly there is no particular order to my private library. I simply read a book and then toss it onto the shelf, wherever it lands it shall stay until I decide to read it again or pass it onto a friend, looking at my library as Bhabha did unpacking his on pg 5 I can only recall a few vague stories of my quest for some of them. Most have been inquired via Amazon, or online Barnes and Nobles ( much thanks to the 21st century online shopping and Amazon Prime two day shipping) but others I can vaguely remember flipping through at a bookstore and deciding to buy them. What does it say about one’s identity if their private library is “disorderly” or if it is systemically alphabetized?

After reading Scott Sherman’s Patience and Fortitude, I got the sense that the New York Public library was not just a building that stored books but was a romanticized epicenter for everyday New Yorkers and scholars alike. The way Sherman described the NYPL, he gave it human-like attributes comparing the books to the heart and saying “it was born in 1895” translated a deeper meaning of this library to the reader. By comparing parts of the library to body parts, it conveyed that this was not your ordinary public library, rather it was a  building rich with living history- a test of time. NYPL is not just a library, but as Sherman describes it, it is a “major cultural institution” for people from all class brackets. By the author emotionally investing the reader, connecting them emotionally to the library and it’s near death experience, Sherman can capture the true essence of New York. The NYPL is a sanctuary for scholars just as New York is a sanctuary for ALL people.

Sherman’s excerpt made me ponder my idea for our first essay. I believe I want to focus on the wifi and personal computer aspect of libraries and how a “world- class library” like the New York Public Library can withstand the rapidly changing 21st century. How does having free wifi access in a library affect the level of concentration or how does it influence people’s reason for coming to the library in general?

From the first few sentences of The Library of Alexandria, the author mentions the private library, which struck me due to the conversations we have been having in class. Walking into professors offices, and seeing a vast number of books scattered around the room has always intrigued me. Those books compile that professors private library and some might even go as far as say those books composite a portion of that professor’s identity. By having a “private” library, those books are not open to the public, so unless students pounder up the guts to ask to borrow a book from their professor, they may never be able to obtain the knowledge that is withheld from them.
I do believe in private libraries as a space for scholarly research, and intellectuals to gather their thoughts alone- some of my best thinking has been down in my father’s library in our house upstate. After having this discussing in class about the private library versus the public library, I started to think that private libraries are withholding information from the public.Casson refers to the “museum” as a “place for cultivating the arts they symbolized”, (33) Ptolemy created a modern day library, a place where people from all scholastic backgrounds were able to gather and conceive marvelous thoughts, I would say it was a semi-public library because it wasn’t just for his books and knowledge but for people he appointed. The idea of private libraries holding this vast amount of hidden knowledge bothers me as a student I am always questioning and searching for more knowledge. (Actually, I have always been the way ever since I could speak I would ask: WHY?) This topic of hidden knowledge and facts made me think a great deal about the Vatican hidden archives, who has access to them, what is contained in them, and why are they so secretive? I know we mentioned it briefly in class, ut this is a subject I would like to pursue as my final research paper.

**I also chose this picture because I think it symbolizes all the knowledge of the world that one book can contain. We also spoke briefly about, the knowledge of hundreds of books condensed into one.**

My favorite spot in Bobst just happens to be the place shown on my NYU campus tour and of course, it sold me. Everything’s better with a view, I said to myself. The North side of the tenth floor isn’t typically crowded; I assume it’s because all the books in that area are written in traditional Asian characters or maybe it is because it is a hidden gem. Sometimes I sit in the single desk and just gaze out the window at the people below and take in the breathtaking views.

In my opinion, the single desks, provide a sense of isolation in a public place. This feeling of isolation can be extremely productive for students trying to translate or read the all Asian texts on this floor of the library. The breathtaking views of Washington Square Park give the students a sense of ease during what might be an intense study session. I always found a profound sense of comfort hiding out on this floor, having enough space to spread all of my work out, I never feel like I am invading anyone else’s space due to the boundaries of the confined single person desks.

Personally, I say this to my friends in other universities, that students at NYU are incredibly privileged with a number of books, resources and online access Bobst has to offer to us. Doing this exercise, I sat in the wooden desk overlooking Washington Square Park and thought about how fortunate we are to have a university library with such impeccable amenities.Tying back to a discussion we had in class, libraries to me are a social experience, something a person does to be surrounded by like-minded people. In this case, Bobst is an educational hub, harboring the great minds of most (hence I did not make the assumption ALL students use Bobst) students that attend NYU.