Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Imagine if a library’s name conveyed a sense of place. For example, the Flathead County Library. Now, imagine if the sense of place is removed from the name and replaced with — drumroll — ImagineIF Libraries.
But we don’t need to imagine that. It just happened. The Flathead County Library is now the ImagineIF Libraries, a placeless, generic name that could be used in Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, or any English speaking country in the world.
How does surrendering a name conveying a sense of place improve our county library? Why did the Library’s board and head librarian not keep the place connected name and adopt a program called “Imagine IF?”
I don’t know the answers to those questions, and so far, the answers provided by the people running the library make no sense to me.
And that’s not all that doesn’t make sense.
“Help us celebrate the launch of ImagineIF,” the library’s new website shouts. “This week, enjoy live music, face painting, refreshments, giveaways and fun for all ages. Because the library isn’t always a quiet place.”
Not always a quiet place? Why the devil not? Quiet is what sets a library apart from a recreation hall.
The Flathead Beacon reported that the new outreach and programming librarian, Megan Glidden, had this epiphany of a proper library activity:
Glidden said the library system would be embracing new activities, such as building chicken coops and then auctioning them off, as a way to provide services to the community outside of books and media.
From stacking books to building chicken coops. Imagine if that actually happened. Our county library would be plucked from the company of libraries respected for being repositories of information, and turned into a laughingstock.
And imagine how many lawsuits would be filed if the library tried to trademark or copyright the phrase “imagine if.”
I’m trying to imagine if the library’s board and director will have the wisdom to reconsider this abandonment of a sense of place, and embrace of librarians’ building chicken coops. I’m having a hard time doing so. It’s easier to imagine replacing the board and director with people with more commonsense than our current blessings exhibit.