The Quiet Library: Where Communities Can Grow

Photo by Aleksandar Andreev

Situated in Lancaster, CA, Jamie’s Bookshelf is a neat place that is all about encouraging others to interact with each other and create a shared community.

The best place to find information about almost anything, other than surfing on the internet (which I would argue doesn’t really help unless you know what you are actually looking for and know how to go about looking for it), is the humble library. 

YES!

That building downtown that has books and books and books inside its premises is actually a good place to learn more about things. A shocker, I know. And this not only applies to large public libraries that have access to government networks for procuring books but also to smaller private ones that are sometimes cafes or gathering hotspots, etc., like Jamie’s Bookshelf, whose goal is about encouraging others to form social groups and the like established in Lancaster, CA. 

Whether it is published works or in some other medium, libraries are veritable and reliable hubs of knowledge and information and, quite surprisingly, community. With their capacity to provide visitors with pertinent information and relevant news about current issues, libraries take in plenty of individuals and provide them spaces to browse knowledge—this inevitably leads to interactions with other patrons and the formation of friendly social groups around their shared interests and pools of knowledge.

A Brief History of Libraries

The oldest library ever known in recorded history is the one assembled by the ancient Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, between 668 and 631 BCE. It was built as part of the royal palace complex in Nineveh and was a massive repository of knowledge and information, containing upwards of 30,000 clay tablets that had cuneiform inscriptions.

While older hubs of knowledge may have been discovered in the region, the library that King Ashurbanipal established was the first of its kind that had no direct relation to the operations of the government and was, first and foremost, a place to store literary texts—this meant that it was a great place for likeminded individuals to gather and create networks with another.

How Libraries Functioned

Before the popularity of online search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., the best way for people to pose questions and get vetted and expert answers to their inquiries was through the library, which often had the sterling reputation of being the most reliable source of information in the region. These libraries could either be publicly funded, attached to local academic institutions, private holdings, or specially created. 

Like search engines today, individuals only needed to ask a question, and they would get an answer directly from the librarian or guide them toward a particular section of the library that may have had the answers they were looking for. This made for well-maintained areas for communication and interaction in communities.

Despite the internet’s claim to vast stores of information, libraries are still key sources of knowledge today, preserving old books, magazines, documents, and the like. And to adapt to the changing times, many libraries all across the globe also offer internet services either via a free Wi-Fi connection within the premises or a section of the library dedicated entirely to electronic sources accessible through computers.

Libraries as Public Spaces

The greatest quality that libraries offer for community-building, other than their easily accessible trough of information, is the fact that they are easily one of the safest and more inclusive areas in a given area.

This is because most modern libraries are built with the community in mind, and even those libraries that have storied heritages are important areas of historical, scientific, academic, and cultural significance, making them areas where foot traffic is heavy and requiring a comfortable degree of security and safety to be maintained at all times, especially during peak visiting hours. 

It also helps that libraries often have large spaces within or without the establishment that have areas specifically catered to visitors and patrons to relax and read their books with peace of mind. Certain libraries also have large function rooms for the express purpose of discussions, debates, or discourse.

Given all that, it is easier to see how libraries can become hubs for socializing and communicating. The library becomes an opportune area to discover new ideas, meet like-minded people, and know more about the town or city—if you are a newcomer.