Commentary : With Library Cuts, Information Is Gained at Expense of Knowledge

“The King planned to build a fountain, for the splendor of his kingdom and the glory of himself,” the story began. “The water for the King’s fountain would take all the water from the valley below.” I stopped reading. The ring of second-grade faces remained lifted expectantly.

I asked, “What would you do if you lived in a valley and someone far up the valley wanted to do something that would take away all the water?”

“I would go to the forest and bring more water,” said one thoughtful, dark-eyed boy.

“I’d bring the King up on charges,” blurted a second.

“What’s that mean?” asked another child.

“I’d sue him!” said a fourth.

“I’d find somewhere else to get water,” said a girl in the voice of one who may have already learned that some paths are closed. Their answers really stunned me. Up on charges? Sue? Second-graders said that? And why wasn’t I hearing the most obvious answer?

This year in my school district’s budget, cuts again fell heavily on the arts--on music, art and school libraries. Music and art teachers are properly dismayed and discouraged. But worse than the effect on the teachers is what will happen to the students. They are losing invaluable exposure to the arts in the lower grades, where it means the most. It is a given that school librarians are rarely funded at the elementary school level. The books may still be there, but no one to guide and encourage the children in their selection.

What is the library? Is it the repository of the past or a living center of learning? If repository of the past, then call it book closet and be done with it.

I believe the school library should be a pulsing center of every child’s school day. It should be the place where, aside from going to “look up something,” a child is encouraged to browse, beginning a journey into a lifelong source of pleasure and knowledge.

Is there anyone who doesn’t remember the tingling pleasure of becoming mesmerized by a story? Stories of the past and present collected in the libraries of the schools and children’s sections of the public libraries contain treasures of knowledge that teach a child how to reflect, how to become truly civilized. It sometimes seems that we are in danger of giving up knowledge in favor of information. Stories, not information, show children the path to developing wisdom.

At the crucial elementary school level, this priceless fountain of knowledge, the library, is seldom even accorded enough status to merit a trained teacher or librarian to staff it. The yearly budget for new library books at one elementary school library would buy one moderately priced living room sofa.

As I see it, there are two simple goals we should be striving for:

Staff each school library with a trained librarian or teacher who will awaken and stimulate each child’s love of learning through reading.

Integrate full use of the library into the overall language arts program, including not only library research skills but thoughtful critical skills associated with both reading and writing stories.

If our children are truly where our hearts are, and if we believe that the children should have early and continuing exposure to the treasures of the library, then we need to come up with some money to provide trained staff.

Are you wondering what happened to the King and his fountain?

The second-graders listened, rapt, as the story unfolded.

A Poor Man from the village sought someone to face the King to tell the King why he should not build his fountain. The Scholar gave him advice so profound he could not understand it, but that was all the Scholar would give. The Merchant spoke so well and so glibly that the Poor Man felt tongue-tied by comparison, but the Merchant would not leave the marketplace.

The Metal Smith offered to go to the King and bash him into submission, but the Poor Man knew that the King’s guards would arrest him before he ever got near the King. At last, the Poor Man went himself. He, alone, won from the King a promise that he would not usurp the village’s water by building a fountain for the splendor of his kingdom and the glory of himself.

The children’s solutions had swung between passive acceptance of the situation and aggressive attack on the perpetrator. The question is: Why did none of the children think in terms of talking things over reasonably?

That’s why, at the earliest age, we need books, and stories, and libraries, and librarians.