Time for a teeny history lesson. In the good ole days books were uber expensive, so having a large private collection was cost prohibitive, so it made sense to have people buy in to the costs of running a library and purchasing books for the collection through become a fee-paying member. Ben Franklin, America's favorite grandpa, kicked things off in our country with his proposal for the Library Company of Philadelphia. The terms subscription library, membership library and atheneum all essentially work to describe this non-profit model.
Atheneums are essentially membership libraries in which you pay a membership due in order to access the materials in circulation and make use of the space. Atheneums (note: can never pronounce it to save my life, but think the meaning is place of Athena, in the same way that a museum is the place of the Muses). As a side note, the role of many atheneums now is in preserving historical local documents, but for the purposes of biblio, we're going to focus on the book collection component itself.
But, obviously atheneums died out with the huge rise in true, free to their residents, public libraries, right? Umm.. nope.
I became aware of Atheneums while studying history in college, but had never really considered their role in modern America outside of academia. But recently, I heard about the launch of Folio in Seattle which will be the first atheneum opened in the US in one a century. Two great profiles in the Seattle Times and the Seattle Review of Books give insight into what role Folio is expected to play in modern life.
And it's amazing. Because obviously Folio wouldn't have opened if it wasn't meeting a legitimate need in the Seattle community, and all those other atheneums in America would've folded decades ago if they weren't meeting a true need as well.
Lets make our first and easiest observation. Are they beautiful? Oh, heck yes. Let's be honest, these are what we have in mind when we think about joining Hermione's study group at Hogwarts.
Boston
Providence
St. Johnsbury
Redwood Atheneum in Newport, RI
So what exactly is it that they are offering that members aren't finding at their local public library? Well in terms of what they don't have, they do not offer the endless programming that public libraries do. If they have programming at all, it's more likely to be very specific and targeted daily and nightly Book Clubs. But people aren't coming for the programming. They seem to be coming for the quiet reading and working space nestled in an entirely literature focused community.
There is a lot of truth in the argument that today public libraries are expected to fill a dual role as social service agencies. They've often got kids running around unattended or members of the community attempting to stay warm or avoid bad weather, and have a huge focus on bringing technology to the masses with extensive programming. And these are all profoundly noble and necessary roles. However, they don't give you that quiet reading room that you can't find at your local Starbucks.
It isn't crazy that some book lovers are looking for a more traditional outlet. When every creative writer is trying to pound out their work at the local Starbucks on their Mac Book, is the idea of searching for a quiet, controlled space to work and speak about literature that strange?
Personally, I made it through 4 years of college studying desperately in the Periodicals Room and choosing different parts of the campus library to crash in between classes depending on what I would be reading or doing. There were serious benefits to the environment. It also brings back the concept that you don't just need to have a leather armchair and desk lamp in a corner of your living room, but can instead find that same feeling in a membership building where you are part of a literary community.
Would you consider it? Memberships runs at $200 for an individual under aged 35 in Boston, $70 for an individual in Newport, RI, and $70 for an under 30 at the new Folio in Seattle. What would the costs and benefits at your location need to be to get you interested?
No comments:
Post a Comment