Age of the library

Poised on the edge of the Information Age, the nation frenetically stocks its shelves with law writs and data bits, pie charts and visual arts, city codes, New Age odes, sports lore and music scores. If we have been able to put it on paper, recording tape, celluloid or computer chip, we’ve done so.

The amount of available information, in fact, doubles every five years, according to the American Library Association. The association asks everyone to keep that piece of information in mind and to help it observe National Library Week this week.

Whether your area library is a couple of rooms in a converted home, a stately Carnegie building or a many-stacked university facility, chances are that a library — and, not coincidentally, a librarian — has helped you find answers to your more puzzling questions. The New York Public Library alone answered more than 5 million telephone inquiries last year.

National Library Week recognizes the country’s growing dependence on its libraries for everything from Milton to multi-media communication. Libraries have become increasingly diverse without losing their mission as a lender of books; their versatility encourages a wide range of people to make use of material that otherwise would not be available to them.

The theme of this year’s Library Week, “Reach for a Star. Ask a Librarian,” is an apt reminder that someone (in fact, 152,000 librarians and related professionals nationwide) is keeping track of our ever-growing files of information. A week of recognition is a fitting way to hail those who will ease the transition to a new age.