New tables
I remember when the library was where you went to find books. So many books. All of the good ones restored in random piles on top of huge tables. The same ones where someone had been studying only hours before. The time between use and re-shelving could be long so you became very good at searching for your book among so many. And those tables were solid. They had to be. But overtime those same tables have become obsolete. A flagrant lack of places to plug in your laptop for the main. So when I saw a news article yesterday about how my local university had started a campaign to get finances to replace those tables I was more than surprised. After all 1/2 century is not that long in terms of academic progress. I have to congratulate the people who made the original purchase of those tables. They bought better than they knew apparently. Will the replacement tables be of the same quality? Has the university moved beyond random piles of books? Probably not because in academia change is anathema. If I was rich, and I’m not, I would simply write a check to buy the university all the tables if required. So important to learning. I spent years at those tables and little did I realize that they would still be in use so many decades later. I mean, I did not have a realization of how things would change. I am not particularly apt at foreseeing the future. But I fully believe the books would remain the foundation of learning. Not exactly. A computer can hold so many more books period. And search through the contents if you know what to ask. No need to question the person at the next table. Although I admit that was usually more for social reasons then academic.
