It’s stories like this that restore my faith in people.
You’ve probably heard about the horrible tragedy that took place in Lac-Mégantic, Québec on July 6 of this past year. It was there that a tanker train derailed, killing 47 locals, including children, and leaving a fiery path of destruction in its wake.
My heart breaks for the families and friends of the deceased. I doubt that their lives will feel “normal” for a very long time, if ever. The town’s reconstruction process will be a long and difficult one, because it must heal both its physical and its psychological wounds. One of these “wounds” is the town library.
Unfortunately, the library, and most of its holdings – including the archives – were destroyed in the fire that followed the derailment. However, a few days ago, The Canadian Press reported that six months later, the local library has received so many book donations – over 200,000 documents in total – that it has asked people to stop sending them. Because of the wealth of donations from across Canada and around the world, the library could reopen as early as this spring in another location in the town. (To read the story in full, click here.)
But what I find especially heartening are the words of the library’s chairperson, Diane Roy, who told The Canadian Press that the locals “hope that it will open soon, as soon as possible. Every day, they ask us when.” It is such a great reminder that even in the digital age, the library is a critical local institution – not only in Lac-Mégantic, but also in just about every other town and neighbourhood that I know of. Just about anyone you meet will tell you that the library environment is changing rapidly, but its status as a safe, reliable, even timeless space for learning, leisure, and community-building remains the same. Obviously, I’m not the only person who thinks in this way, since people as far away as Europe were keen to support the library’s recovery from the disaster by donating books, comics, and CDs. Is the need for libraries disappearing? Hardly, and especially not in a town that is striving to (literally and figuratively) rise from the ashes.
My family has befriended several members of the Japanese-Canadian community over the years. You’re probably also aware of their internment during the Second World War, which these family friends experienced for themselves. After the war – during which their property had been sold – they were faced with the unenviable task of rebuilding their lives. From these family friends, we have frequently heard variations on the following theme: “After the war, we didn’t have much, but we did have the public library.” For them, the library became a symbol of resilience; it was a space for knowledge and growth that nobody could take away from them.
I may not be from Lac-Mégantic, but as an outsider looking in, I can’t help but notice that kind of symbolism at work once again. Most of the library holdings may have disappeared in the fire, but the fact that people from the town, our country, and the world are contributing to rebuilding the collection and re-establishing an important intellectual and communal space demonstrates that neither Lac-Mégantic nor the library, as an institution, is going to disappear anytime soon. We can’t change the tragic events of the recent past, but as outsiders looking in, we can support the citizens of Lac-Mégantic in reclaiming the town as their space, both for now and for future generations.
I’ve always felt that the library is a great indicator of the strength of the community it serves. If this town library can come to thrive, so can the town’s citizens, even if neither the library nor the town will ever be the same again.
Now, I’d like to hear your stories. Has disaster (e.g. a fire, earthquake, or flood) ever struck your community library? Librarians: How did you respond? Patrons: How important was it for you to see your local library “rise again,” and did you play a role in making that happen?
No Library is an Island 