I believe we are witnessing the birth of a new religion: Jermainism. A key belief of this budding religion is building worship. Over the past three years, I’ve heard various members of this Sag Harbor-based cult wax rhapsodic about the glories of the building that currently houses the public library here in Sag Harbor. (Full disclosure: I’m an employee of said library.) This building is spoken of in the reverential tones usually reserved for classic cathedrals, the Taj Mahal or the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. With near religious fervor, the acolytes of this new faith demand that the people of Sag Harbor honor their sacred duty to preserve this holy structure and to continue to utilize it as a library; for, apparently, only if it remains a library can its true value to mankind be realized. When addressing the library’s Board of Trustees, or the members of the Community Library Committee, or other sworn enemies of the faith, I swear I’ve heard cult members spitting and speaking in tongues.
Of course, this sect is not without it’s priestly class. They call themselves architects. Most of the sermons, homilies, and incantations I’ve heard from this group have begun with the words, “I’m an architect…” Sometimes it seems this denomination has more priests than flock. On the other hand, the one group that appears to be conspicuously absent from the ranks of the Jermainsts is actual library users. I know this simply because I’m in the library every day, and I rarely if ever see any of the building worshipers actually IN the building they worship. Maybe they don’t use the library because the John Jermain Memorial Library building is a lousy place to house a library.
OK, enough of this conceit. I’m tired. I mean really tired. What is everyone carrying on about? OK, they like the building. Great. Let’s find a good use for it. Unfortunately, it does not now, and never will meet the minimal needs of a modern library. The proper equation is Library = Service. It’s that simple. It is not Library=Building. A modern library is a group of services structured around providing information and entertainment to the community at little or no charge. It’s not a building, it’s not a collection of books, it’s not any THING. Library = Service. I learned this by watching the librarians and clerks respond to the needs of the library patrons. After working at the library for just a few days, I realized that librarians are all about providing service; aside from a fondness for books, that’s the main reason they do what they do.
The librarians and the Trustees (who, I guess, pick up this commitment to service by osmosis once they become Trustees) want to move to a new building because the existing building gets in the way of their being able to provide the services the community requires. It’s the services, stupid. (I know, it’s overused. I should have resisted the urge..) Some people love the John Jermain building, some don’t. I’m agnostic. I think it has its points, and I’m sure that someone will find a good use for it. But, please don’t make the building into a holy crusade. All the good that comes out of that building is rooted in the ethic of libraries, not in the architecture of libraries. For practical and economic reasons, the library needs to move. Let it go.
The building looks like it might house a fantastic upscale restaurant…perhaps like Tellers in Islip, fashioned from an ancient bank, and costing more than your yearly savings if you order a bottle of wine with your meal . Call it something like “Librarians”, or perhaps name it for those NSA types examining each book borrowed for your supposed links to Al Queada. Or to keep it more germane, call it Jermainiacs, or turn it into a trendy art gallery where large canvases covered with mixed media could grace the walls and inspire even more reverence. So many potential uses!
Where would you locate the new library?
Dale,
Interesting ideas. Many historic buildings have been lovingly preserved while being converted for private or commercial uses by private devleopers. Though the area in which the library is currently located would not be a good location for a restaurant, the art gallery idea might work.
The Library Trustees tried to get funding for a new building to be errected on a small piece of property they own next to Mashashimuet Park, which is 7/10 of a mile south of the library’s current location on the same road. This proposal was defeated by the voters 18 months ago, after running into much oppostiion from groups and individuals in the community. Since then, a Community Library Committee, appointed by the Trustees has been studying the issue, and is about to release a report that recommends that the Trustees try again to sell the community on the location at the park, while retaining some library functions in the old building, which would require extensive renovation to bring it up to code. All in all, a very expensive recommendation. I like the idea of a new library at the park. I don’t, however, think that it makes economic or logistical sense to split the library’s functions between two buildings.
Eric