I was completely aghast last Friday when I learned that our provincial government had summarily closed our historic Legislative Library. The 144-year-old library, conveniently located in its own wing of the Legislature, has been around longer than the united province of B.C. (Vancouver Island used to be a separate colony). From what I saw on the news and from what I've read online, it is stunningly gorgeous inside—soaring domes, mountains of marble, woodwork you can see your face in, the whole nine yards. (How is it I've never been there?) Even if it wasn't a national achitectural treasure, it would still be profoundly anti-democratic to take legislative reference materials and, more importantly, research librarians out of the parliament buildings.
Though the surface excuse for the closure is "seismic upgrades," the fact that half of the librarians have already been laid off and the irreplaceable collection is on its way to a warehouse in the hinterlands reveals the government's true intentions. There is talk of turning the space into office and/or ceremonial space. Just the thought of turning that magnificent structure into offices is repulsive. And anyone living in B.C. should be able to interpret the supposed need for ceremonial space as code for "we want a fancy place, away from the rabble, where we can show off for all the foreign dignitaires who will be visiting B.C. during the 2010 Winter Olympics, at taxpayers expense of course." The 2010 Olympics are the big prestige project for this government and they are ramming it through against vigorous community opposition while ignoring alarming social issues such as rising poverty and homelessness and overflowing hospitals.
So far, the reaction to the library closure has been verynegative, but so is the reaction to most things this government does and they seem to get away with it all anyway. What to do? This issue hits close to home on various levels for me so I've already been busy with the emails to both government and media outlets. If anyone out there would like to voice their opinion on this matter, please (please!) take 5 minutes to email Premier Gordon Campbell and tell him what you think. Emails from outside B.C. would be especially effective with this image-conscious government. Feel free to mention where you heard about it.
You will likely be hearing more from me on this matter, but for now I'll leave you with some refreshingly frank reporting of the reaction by former head librarian Joan Barton:
One of the arguments advanced in favour of the reorganization was that much of the reference material often asked for is available online. But Barton scorned that explanation. “There is no such thing as ‘everything is on the Internet.’ When you say that to a librarian, they’re too polite to say so, but their first thought is: ‘I’m dealing with an idiot.’” [source]
UPDATE: I found out that the Legislative Library is still open to the public this week, even though they are packing up. I encourage anyone in the Capital Region to go see this beautiful building while they still can. Their hours are 8:30 to 5:00, and access is by the front entrance of the Parliament Buildings. I intend to go and take pictures. Stay tuned...
