The librarian
Do you remember going to the library when you were a kid? For me it was always a source of wonder and excitement, a chance to explore ideas and knowledge without restraint. If I needed help, there was always a friendly librarian there to assist.
Perhaps in college you learned the secrets of the stacks; books and manuscripts, music and maps, photos and films, all hidden somewhere deep inside the oldest part of an older building. The librarian would sometimes show up, unexpectedly, to check in on the quest to find a certain something. I remember opening books in the stacks and realizing that they had not been opened for 50 years prior.
Thinking that the librarian simply catalogs and shelves materials, or only says “shhhh” when you are speaking too loud, is like thinking that the groundskeeper at Fenway only mows the lawn.
The librarian helps connect. Connecting one random thing to another through an understanding of the broader context of knowledge. Building a special shelf that puts the novels Dune and The Monkey Wrench Gang and The Overstory alongside films such as Koyaanisqatsi and Winged Migration. Slipping a biography of Hedy Lamarr to the engineering student building a radio frequency transmitter.
The librarian brings order to chaos. From Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress, and with an eye to the ever-evolving priorities and realizations of a maturing society, the librarian helps organize the universe of knowledge in a multidimensional fashion that is readily accessible to anyone open to understanding.
The librarian knows secrets. Books are not simply books, they are authors and editors, different cover designs and various editions, banned and revised, late-blooming classics and over-rated trash. Not just books, but all forms of stored knowledge and history are the domain of the librarian.
The librarian quietly rules their domain. They bring calm to disruption. They ensure a system that works. They provide access to the underprivileged, sparks to developing minds, and comfort to minds fading away. The librarian sees the difference between the signals and noise of contemporary life.
In a world where facts are routinely questioned, truth has the consistency of taffy, and “experts” are a dime-a-dozen, the librarian represents sanity.
The wolf. The ghosts. The librarian.
Next week: The bicycle and how this all ties together.