Said Mark Sweeney, Principal Deputy Librarian of Congress, quoted in "Preservationists say Library of Congress makeover plan is ‘vandalism’/The library’s Main Reading Room, included in a $60 million renovation of the Thomas Jefferson Building, lands on the D.C. Preservation League’s list of endangered places" (WaPo).
A proposed change to the ornate Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress that critics say would remove the symbolic and functional heart of the 1897 Beaux-Arts masterpiece has landed the library on the D.C. Preservation League’s 2022 list of Most Endangered Places. The Library of Congress plans to remove the mahogany librarian’s desk that rises some 16 feet in the middle of this spectacular, first-floor room and replace it with a circular window in the floor that will offer a view of its decorative dome to visitors looking up from the floor below.
Sweeney touts the project as a "game changer." He's right about that. He's changing the "game" of research and architectural preservation to tourism. And it wouldn't even be good tourism. As one commenter over there puts it:
Through a window, from 3 stories below the dome, it will look flattened into a decorative plate. Painting the "plate" on the ceiling above a piece of glass would give the same effect for much less money and less alteration to the structure.
It's so crazy to cut a big hole in the floor of an iconic room so people can look up from below. And who are those people, demanding "access" and needing to be "taken care of"? They're just imagining them and prioritizing them over the people who have used what is a library as a library.
But it is the elite whose minds are shaped by books who immerse themselves in abstractions like democracy and come up with permutations like "democratizing access" and perversions like big windows in floors.
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"Democratize" — meaning "To make (something) accessible to a wide range of people; to make (something) less elitist, pretentious, etc." — has been around since the late 18th century. Some historical quotes from the OED:
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Never underestimate the ability of government minions to fuck beautiful things up.
’The Library of Congress plans to remove the mahogany librarian’s desk that rises some 16 feet in the middle of this spectacular, first-floor room…’
The ‘tower’ is not just the focal point of that majestic room, but the desk captures the glory of books and knowledge. Leave it alone.
The Trouble with libraries, is that they are run by Librarians.. And Librarians are STUPID.
The Ames Library, wanted to get more people to come there.. So they removed Bookshelves and replaced them with a coffee house. Now you could go to the Ames Library and play video games and drink coffee.. Just like you could at home (or, you could just stay home).
The Reason people go to a library is to Get Books.. Librarians don't like that.
You'd think the library of congress would be books about sexual positions.
The Philistines are in charge. Why should we be surprised at such an idea?
1. I had to go lookup pictures of the main reading room to get some full context to what sounded like obviously stupid idea.
2. Now having seen some pictures this idea is even stupider than I thought it was.
3. This made me think of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, where in a discussion on time travel, it describes how not only had a beautiful cathedral been torn down to make way for an ore refinery. That in order to meet the construction deadline the refinery’s construction had been extended into the past so that the cathedral had never been built.
4. The offensive use of “democratize” to justify their stupidity, when what is really going on is that someone at the library thinks there a better architect than original. These are the types of people who given a chance would change the original Mona Lisa to show more cleavage in the name of democratization.
As the tour groups look up and down, they can discuss racism and white privilege.
People on the lower floors can reenact slavery and discuss the Library’s involvement.
Democratize? How about Virtualize? Make a supremely and sublimely detailed digital survey of the building that can be accessed by present and future technology to create a digital experience for near and far future audiences.
No one will ever have to wash the windows or re-paint or clean the toilets or even travel to Washington.
The obvious comeback of those not directly paying the bill will be, "Why not do both?"
Here's how you people would say it:
Now do Old Growth trees
"And while we're at it, I'm not at all happy with all the WHITE marble on the outside. WHITE? In this day and age of woke enlightenment!"
Is it "the elite whose minds are shaped by books who immerse themselves in abstractions like democracy and come up with permutations like "democratizing access" and [and] perversions like big windows in floors"? Or is it the elites who proudly wear the progressive mantle. Isn't preserving something like conserving? Nothing is worth conserving to the rabid progressive cult, especially anything that speaks to history and culture; "progress" for the sake of progress which means cutting holes in floors; and tearing down statues. Can't have conservation in the progressive elites' rush to make the peons think they are democratizing - because they *care* - everything they can so that life is fair and accessible to the unwashed peon mass class.
"The Ames Library, wanted to get more people to come there.. So they removed Bookshelves and replaced them with a coffee house...."
The University Bookstore here in Madison used to be full of books. Over time, more and more, clothes that said "Wisconsin" took over most of the floorspace.
I don't know how they can tolerate calling it the Thomas Jefferson Building these days. That's not inclusive. Democratize that and call it done. Don't cut a hole in the floor.
The Library of Congress is from a unique time in history and should not be touched. It'd certainly be too costly and likely too politically dangerous to build today, with its many statutes of dead white men, political virtue/moral teachings, paintings of near-nude nymphs, and sculptures of mythological creatures.
Never underestimate the stupidity of bureaucrats who follow creative efforts, for Leonardo da Vinci's original Last Supper painting in Milan had a DOOR CUT THROUGH THE FEET!
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Last-Supper-fresco-by-Leonardo-da-Vinci
It's been decades since the Virginia Tech bookstore carried more than a handful of books that weren't textbooks. Just could not compete with Amazon - just like all of the other local booksellers.
At the main library, the problem was that lots of people DID come there. The students were using it as a study space and ignoring the dead trees. The dead trees were shipped to off campus storage. You could have them reserved at the main desk in less than 24 hours with a click of your computer - which is what the faculty was doing before the move. The serendipity of browsing the stacks is lost, but there are very few complaints.
I retire in exactly three weeks. I used to have a pretty large personal mathematics library. I've gone through several cullings. Next week, I'll get it down to a few feet of books.
No problem. In 40 or 50 years the government will change it back -- simply be patient!
But it is the elite...
Of course, they're not really democratizing it. That is just a way for them to twist something reprehensible into another reason to think well of themselves...like they were taught to do in their elite schools.
Note that the idea keeps the stinking masses down below where they belong. Not only will the lowly be looking up at the elite in their beautiful, exclusive space. The elite will be looking down and feeling special. They want to create a sort of human Koi pond for themselves to enjoy.
Or perhaps it's their version of Heaven on Earth where they can look down upon those poor souls who didn't make it past the pearly gates.
"The University Bookstore here in Madison used to be full of books. Over time, more and more, clothes that said "Wisconsin" took over most of the floorspace."
If you go into most any bookstore these days, they more resemble a tchotchke shop. Shirts with the city or school you're located in, coffee mugs, various treats, multiple flavored mints, and small stuffed animals.
There are a group of people in this world who think all change, any change is a positive thing. Change is always good. Even if the change is not fully considered, or the end results might not be good in the long run, it's the idea of change that excites these people who always assume that any change is good. We call these people progressives, even though their demanded change more often results in regression.
This is a prelude to removing the Jefferson statue and renaming it.
I used the University of Georgia's (UGA) library a few years ago, and the main floor was filled with junkies, including one nodding off with a needle in his arm. The staff said they weren't allowed to kick them out. But you couldn't access the coffee shop without going through a gate. Some priorities, including disrespect for the library workers. This was summer, so there were more junkies than students.
There's a new problem for libraries: body lice.
It's like how convenience stores have taken over as the profit center of what once was a full service station with a back room. Wannabe Grease Monkeys hardest hit.
I think a lot of this sort of nonsense is actually motivated by the bureaucratic desire to appropriate a bigger slice of the budget for the project they're overseeing. The blather is all just post hoc rationalisation for the budget request. In a couple years, they'll request a new renovations budget to put things back the way they were. Look at DC Union Station, where for the 1976 centennial, they dug a giant pit in the middle of the grand entrance hall, and then in the 1980s, they closed up the pit and refinished the floor with marble again. Huge budgets each time!
The woke mob telegraphed their play book. After Notre Dame Cathedral rebuild, history is useless, only the narrative matters
There are a group of people in this world who think all change, any change is a positive thing. Change is always good. Even if the change is not fully considered, or the end results might not be good in the long run
which explains A LOT about the new "i wanna be a boy!" movement, and will
ALSO explain A LOT about the upcoming "i want my tits back!" movement
I can't believe the changes won't emphasize smashing the patriarchy, bitching and moaning about slavery, and trans something or other.
I guess a window is progress?
We'll always have the lovingly shot LoC scenes in Nick Cage's National Treasure 2.
At the bottom of it all is just pure graft.
No worries. VR kiosks will let you see the bldg as it was in the olden days.
The career bureaucrats at the LOC are just continuing the political partisan service as usual. The Democrat/Progressive them now is to tear down tradition in the name of accessibility of the tourists.
I've watched this LOC exhibit of NAACP papers
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A Letter to President Woodrow Wilson
In 1913 President Woodrow Wilson introduced segregation into federal government agencies. Black employees were separated from other workers in offices, restrooms, and cafeterias. Some were also downgraded; others discharged on fictitious grounds. Oswald Garrison Villard met privately with President Wilson to recommend the appointment of a National Race Commission to counter the new discriminatory policies. When President Wilson refused, the NAACP released this open letter of protest to the press. Segregation in the federal government persisted through the next three Republican administrations.
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Note how they avoid Wilson's party affiliation while emphasizing "Republican" when a more informative statement would have included the number of years or some other timeframe. They don't even clarify that there were no Democrat administrations during the period.
http:////www.loc.gov/exhibits/naacp/founding-and-early-years.html#obj20
There are a group of people in this world who think all change, any change is a positive thing. Change is always good.
Not quite. Change is good ONLY if the good, smart, woke people want change. If the wrong people want change, well, it's just not gonna happen.
Long ago the news that JFK had been shot first came to me inside the Emory University bookstore. It’s been all down hill since then. Two years later I heard LBJ had landed the USMC at Danang. And in the meantime the college elites had started the hallucinogenic drug usage as a normal activity. Interesting times.
Why didn't the Post speak to the Librarian of Congress herself. It's like they're protecting her or something.
OK, I'll skip the snark - they didn't involve her in this stupidity because she is in a protected class.
It's called "Friend of Obama." You could look it up.
The Eugene Public Library has an arrangement with the University of Oregon Library, giving its patrons access to all sorts of books that could be had otherwise only via the ILL system or purchase. I don't notice much obvious loitering about by the presumptively homeless (perhaps because most of those folks are downtown at the EPL); on the other hand, when I'm there I usually know more or less where I'm headed to and am in and out in fifteen minutes.
The EPL does have an institutional subscription to the OED, my discovery of which fact happily eliminated that expense from my budget in retirement.
I assume Starbux will get the coffee concession.
We're still in the early stages of Idiocracy.
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