Stacks

Libraries are democracy’s temples of truth,

the sources of the knowledge that people need

in order to govern themselves. Faith may not

have any use for knowledge, but it can’t

be trusted to treat everyone with respect,

as history shows over and over again.

Faith may have do some good as a placebo,

but the people need real truth, not mere belief.

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Those who hate knowledge pass judgment on themselves.

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Stacks

The clock high on the reading room wall ticked quietly. The fluorescent lights cast a blue-white light on the shelf labels: Philosophy – Fiction – History. Parents sat in folding chairs, programs folded flat in their laps. The clerk was clicking at the computer keyboard. The audience was waiting for a reading of Born Ready.

A man came in with a Bible raised high. He crossed the aisle fast, boots thumping on the tile. “This place,” he said, “is poisoning our children. The filth must go.” Programs rustled in the chairs. Someone cleared a throat. The clerk kept clicking the keyboard.

The librarian stood, and said in a firm, even voice, “Libraries are temples of knowledge. The stacks are monuments to truth.” She set one hand on the lectern as if it were an altar.

He shook his head. “God’s word is supreme.” He snapped the Bible open. The crack of the spine echoed from the ceiling while the thin pages fluttered in his grip. He read aloud: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

His words were swallowed by silence. Chairs creaked. A mother leaned forward, eyes on the shelves. The whole audience looked toward the stacks.

From the back row, someone said, “Exactly.”

The librarian set her hand flat on the lectern and let the silence stand. The rows of books, lit from above, stood tall in their rows like chiseled stones.

The man shut his Bible with a grunt and drew his coat tight. He walked out heavy-booted, head down.

The clerk kept on clicking. The people waited, their faces turned toward the books.