Loans

I’m not sure why “Is a Library-centric Economy the Answer to Sustainable Living” by Philip Vachon surprised me, but it did. The basic argument is that the ideas that govern good libraries – making as many books available to as many readers as possible, fairly and efficiently, and adapting to changes in readership and reading materials over time – could be applied to ordinary objects other than books. The examples used include household tools, games, and cookware. This was in part true as long as I can remember: my local library branch when I was a child had chess and checkers sets that could be borrowed, at least within the building. It’s worth noting that branch – the Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library, at the acute-angle intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street – is on its third building at that location, to accommodate two large increases in size and use.)

Vachon’s article is part of a movement (although that word may be too grand) that he calls a “library economy.” Ultimately, it means sharing of common items that many people do not needs all the time but which most people need at some time. He does not state that the library has to be free, as most municipal libraries currently are for book use, but he certainly implies that they will be cheap if not free to use. He promotes this idea in the name of saving on the environmental costs of manufacturing many common items that sit unused most of the time.

Putting aside the environmental theme – not because it’s unimportant, but because it’s important enough to deserve its own paragraph – the idea of sharing a resource is literally the idea behind libraries. My family could not have afforded the vast quantity of books we took home from the Flushing branch and we had no space where we could have saved them. By sharing the books through the library, we got what we wanted – to read the books – without having to own them. Vachon describes “The Five Laws of a Library Economy” and the first boils down to use being more important than ownership. If you want to read a book, the edition doesn’t matter, nor does who owns it (assuming you haven’t stolen it); if you want to drive some nails to hang a picture on the wall, it doesn’t matter if the hammer is new or old, wood handle or steel, as long as it works, and it doesn’t matter who owns it. This idea runs counter to ordinary culture in the US, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Finally, assuming that we are not manufacturing items simply to keep the economy turning, maybe we are wasting a lot of factory and shipping capacity making multiple copies of things that mostly sit in closets gathering dust, waiting for their once-in-a-while use. And since all manufacturing and shipping comes with an environmental cost, maybe it’s better if we don’t, or at least if we don’t more than is necessary.

The article has an AI-generated picture of the main reading room at the New York Public Library reconfigured to showcase tools, cookware, and sports equipment. Since it’s one of my favorite public rooms in the city, here’s an actual view of it in 1924: