As every past generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance of truisms and stereotypes, so in our own time we must move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality.
For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie–deliberate, contrived and dishonest–but the myth–persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
Mythology distracts us everywhere–in government as in business, in politics as in economics, in foreign affairs as in domestic affairs.
These are the words of President John F. Kennedy at the Commencement Address at Yale University coaxing the nation beyond familiar discourse and providing encouragement to face the challenges of the era.
Myths are useful as human shorthand, as a means of articulating and sharing wisdom.1 We can, however, rely on them so heavily that they become pernicious. This happens in all spheres of human enterprise.
Myths are woven into the fabric of our public libraries. At this crucial time it would be good to ask:
- What are some library myths?
- Who is invested in them?
- For each constituency, do the myths help or hinder, or both?
- If they hinder, what needs to change?
Here are the concluding remarks of President Kennedy’s commencement address. May they be an inspiration to everyone working to strengthen our libraries.
Discussion is essential [...] But let us not engage in the wrong argument at the wrong time between the wrong people [...] while the real problems of our own time grow and multiply, fertilized by our neglect.
Nearly 150 years ago Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The new circumstances under which we are placed call for new words, new phrases, and for the transfer of old words to new objects.” New words, new phrases, the transfer of old words to new objects–that is truer today than it was in the time of Jefferson [...] You are part of the world and you must participate in the solution of the problems that pour upon us, requiring the most sophisticated and technical judgment; and as we work in consonance to meet the authentic problems of our times, we will generate a vision and an energy which will demonstrate anew to the world the superior vitality and strength of the free society.
1Jack Beatty, “When the Media Got It Wrong“, OnPoint Radio with Tom Ashbrook, June 3, 2010.
2Photo: Joseph Scherschel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
