Past, present and future coexist at the library
IN THE CITY
by Lisa Neal Shaw
A life-size stand-up of the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) from “Doctor Who” currently hangs out at the Reference Department in the library.
For those who have never followed the long-running BBC series, “Doctor Who” is a science fiction story about a frequently reincarnating Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels throughout time and space in a space ship/time machine called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension in Space). The TARDIS had the ability to camouflage itself with whatever surroundings it landed among, but lost that ability due to an accident vaguely alluded to in the series, and now it has the permanent appearance of a blue Police Call Box. It also is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside — “dimensionally transcendental.”
According to the BBC’s website, “Inside the TARDIS there are an awful lot of rooms — libraries, gardens, swimming pools, and even a cricket pavilion. Plus two control rooms, a boot cupboard, a very large costume wardrobe and a pink Zero Room.”
I deeply appreciate that there are libraries (more than one!) inside the TARDIS, because the library itself has become dimensionally transcendental. The collection is no longer restricted to what fits on the shelves within the physical walls. Axis 360 is virtual shelf space that houses a collection of popular e-books just for our library patrons, including the popular “Fifty Shades of Grey” series. The Maine InfoNet Download Library gives our patrons access to e-books and audio books through Overdrive which are shared with other library patrons throughout the state. A Linux server is virtual home to a collection of local oral histories.
Services have become temporally transcendent. Questions to staff and volunteers will range from old records on microfilm to emerging technology trends. A typical day will range from the 1800s to what’s about to happen tomorrow, and from the very first exposure of a new citizen to textured board books to a senior citizen learning how to renew a professional certificate through the state online.
Because there is so much movement across time and space within the library itself, placement of materials, web portals, and direction of traffic flow are becoming more challenging and more important. Community benefactors Mary Smith and Ray and Sandy Gauvin are among those who are working to ensure that the movement of services and materials in the library remains comfortable and free of barriers.
A design committee consisting of library staff, trustees, and community members are stewarding funding to make the physical interior of the library as beautiful and welcoming as the community of Presque Isle itself. This committee is very interested in hearing from the citizens of the community what makes a visit to the library an excellent experience. The committee will be looking at patron furniture and the best placement thereof, colors that reflect the natural beauty of Aroostook County, and use of space that best responds to the service needs of library visitors.
The design committee strongly encourages patron feedback. If you have some thoughts to share, please stop by the library during operating hours, call us at (207) 764-2571, e-mail pimelibrarian@gmail.com, talk to us on Facebook (Presque Isle Librarians), or contact us by any other suitable method. The committee is working very hard to make the library’s interior a most welcoming place, even if — like the eleventh Doctor with his TARDIS — it must “recalibrate the Doomsday bumpers and jettison the karaoke bar.”
Lisa Neal Shaw is reference librarian at Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library. She can be reached at 764-2571 or via e-mail at lisashaw@presqueisle.lib.me.us.
