The Library & the Book - Enduring Essentials With Endless Potential

The Library & the Book - Enduring Essentials With Endless Potential

"Healing-place of the Soul"

Library, when you seek the definition of this term in any lexicon you will find that it is among other things, primarily a place where books are kept. And it is this reference the original Anglo-French term that my article is concerning: The home of books; more than this--books in the home.

Just how old are books? The books of Adam and Eve may be considered the oldest narratives of this world; although we are not certain that these records were originally written accounts. We then find historical reference to the books of Enoch; since there are various indications that suggest Enoch to be Mankind's first scribe; it is probable that his works were indeed written efforts.

I dare say that time has obscured various other records and narratives of the antediluvian world, which may be lost to us of the modern world forever.

In any event, as Mankind advanced toward a more organized existence, libraries of written records began to appear as collections of perhaps a dozen or two inscribed tablets. The earliest known collection or library may be considered the clay tablets of Sumer which bear cuneiform engravings that date back to the Early Dynastic period, perhaps 2800 B.C.

The library has been a preeminent fixture within every great civilization from the beginning. And every great civilization has revered and held precious the humble pile that is called library. From Hummurabi to Ramses III, from Alexandria to Monte Cassino to this very day; the library has been the heart of every nation. After all, it is the only enduring link people have with the past. Such knowledge, or a depository of such knowledge, is also the only counsel that offers the wisdom of the finest known minds of the ages. And now, nearly 5000 years from the first known library, we could very well find ourselves the unfortunate descendants that will witness the cessation of this noble and very necessary edifice.

I recently read an enlightening and not a little enkindling penning entitled "From Babylon to Librespace" by Talat S. Halman, in which he writes with excellent elaboration;

"The Age of Cyberspace is transforming libraries into, Librespace. In the 21st century A.D., Cybernetics and Internet will give the world a revolutionary dynamic which may be called libernetics...Ex libris, will come to mean liberated from books."

I recommend the reading of this fine discourse to anyone that may consider the subject of this article fatuous or perhaps a bit melodramatic; as I assure you it is not. There are still many that care about the true quality of books as well as the crucial necessity of libraries. For this reason, the more sense that is made of this concern, the more enlistees we may recruit for our worthy cause.

In this day of PCs, DVDs, CDs, and the Internet, the old fashioned home library is being steadily reduced to a mere eBay seller's goldmine. The sad truth is that books are gaining monetary value as they are sought by collectors and book dealers, but are losing their inestimable intrinsic worth to the masses in general. The question, then, is whether the former circumstance has generated the latter, or is it the other way round?

It is apparent that many people are enamored of technology, especially when it comes in such a nifty package as the Personal Computer, or the high-tech Smart Phone. And so, as one thing leads to another, high technology encroaches upon old-school mainstays and in time the latter succumbs rendering the book to collectable status.

As a product of homeschool, and a pedagogue I have gained profound respect for my library; be it a shelf of books or a room full, the library is the hub of knowledge. I am of the firm and unambiguous opinion that there has not been, nor could ever be a circumstance which would bring about the unnecessariness of the home library; the substratum of any family or individual intent on the discernment of truth! Without the words physically there to see, to touch, even to smell, to have dimensionally in one's own possession, one runs the risk of disinterest.

Please understand that I am in no way maligning the various electronic disseminators of information that exist. On the contrary, I am simply reminding all who will listen that we must not forget the element that has been part of human existence since perhaps the beginning. We must all work toward a renaissance of this edifice-the Home Library. In this way, we may avail ourselves to the best of both worlds. And, in turn, offer the same to future generations.

Given the resources available to us in this information age; instructive learning CDs, Visual DVDs, and the immense Internet with its myriad of downloads, the idea of utilizing still another, seemingly archaic, avenue of pedagogic wealth may seem redundant. However, when we rethink what advantages are available to a student solely through the use of the old-fashioned library, we then realize the potential of combining such wonders...The ultimate learning tool. On the other hand, if we merely utilize half of this synthesis, we would not only be denying ourselves our own potential, we would be depriving our young of infinite erudition.

To an independent thinker, or to any sincere seeker of knowledge, the home library is a close friend; perpetually bearing witness to, and at the same time, being the precious issuance of the written-spoken word. You see it is the words that are preeminent. They are the singular representatives of all things sacred and profane, from the outermost regions of the heavens, to the deepest recesses of our minds. Indeed, we may all be doomed if we could not know and convey through words, the Hendecalogue of God, and the early histories. Indeed, a library will assist a person in their life as few other things can. In reality, any depository of books will do when knowledge is sought, yet the home library is more than a depository that sells or loans the commodity within; it is something that may be depended upon, a place where one goes at any time they are in need of the counsel of the ages. Such a sanctuary in one's home generates a singular tranquility and sense of direction for not only the young, but especially the old.

Furthermore, the act of reading a book is an extremely personal experience, although not subject or limited to private obscurity. Just as any person you may meet will vary in some way from another, any book you pick up will be different in some way from any other. The impressions that the written word has on the mind, produce an independent thought process that is in itself the action of an individual. These impressions may be altered or even influenced by conclusions drawn from previously learned information or eventual reasoning. However, any such conclusions require, in most cases, significant use of the mind. Hence, the necessity of thinking for one's self, to deduce from within, to arrive at an end that is satisfactory to one's intellect, from which, one eventuates to a procurement of a correct, or more precisely, purer, understanding of what is true--The truth of the matter! You see a book in the hand, stating x as fact, or suggesting y as possible, holds greater impact on the mind than merely reading text on a screen. A simple example of this instantia crucis may be found in the experience of talking to someone in person, versus on a telephone.

Genuine history is truth, simply because it did happen, as opposed to recorded history, which is merely what was jotted down at the time. Unfortunately, recorded history is all that we have to utilize in any study of the past. Alas, the difference in the two would answer all of the questions and settle all of the controversies that Mankind has had to date.

Once you inaugurate a genuine attempt at discovering what actually happened, you must scrutinize any and all accounts of the subject in study that are available to you. Historians, though perhaps ingenuous in their intentions, are still mere mortals. Therefore, within the numerous renditions of history that have come down to us through the ages for our review, we find, whether it be through translation, transliteration, or metaphrasing that sometimes there occurs a skewing of reality. I repeat: this is not due to inglorious intentions. It is primarily due to the fact that Mankind is a product of his being. In that, when we explore how something is perceived by someone, whether that something is two dimensional or three, we find, the way in which someone comprehends, leads them to their deductions and in turn to their perception. So then, depending upon how someone was trained to comprehend will determine how someone shall perceive.

When one considers the myriad of occurrences that exist in history, one must accept that there were, and will be various perceptions of such occurrences, hence the copious renditions of them. Furthermore, although each account may be true, each account may vary in its conveyance. If you were to read twelve written accounts of an occurrence, you would probably find a dozen accounts that were similar in substance and yet different in recountal. And so, when it is time to sit down and scrutinize all that one may find on a particular subject of study, all that is available should be present. This is required for cross-referencing, rereading, and note confirmation and comparisons. In this way, a researcher will be able to view a variety of perceptions of the reality, at the same time; it will also offer the greatest opportunity to gain the truth, which of course is the ultimate reward for such efforts. In a way, having a sizable table layered with books on a particular topic is like having a room filled with historians ready to put their heads together in an effort to assist you.

When it comes to deep research, an actual book in the hand will out weight text on a screen, every time.

I have now come full circle in this discourse of the library, the book. I hope that people from all walks and mindsets will realize the age of information and technology may assist, even augment the book and its family home-the library. However, the wondrous achievements of the 20-21st centuries can never replace the sanctums that inspired the likes of Diodorus Siculus, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Jefferson; as there are many kindred spirits of these souls that will forever revere the home of books. The time has now come for all who care, to be vigilant, and, indeed, sagacious in such veneration.

The Monopodium of Civilization is of words, the keepers of words are books, the keepers of books are libraries, and the keepers of libraries are us. Any one of these predicates is integral to all four, as all four are dependent on the next. Therefore, if any one of them fails or is proven inefficacious, then the potential of the remaining three shall inevitably turn to dross.

Diogenes Vindex is the product of a self-imposed education; the devisor of the Vindex Homeschool Curriculum, and Derivation Incognita: A Comprehensive Study into the Peopling of America.

Please visit [http://www.theumbrage.com/DerivationIncognitaHome.html] to learn more about his available works, and to give your opinion.

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_(By Diogenes Vindex).