Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges once aptly remarked that he imagined paradise to be a kind of library. For some of us, this resonates deeply with libraries being warm, trusting, and relaxed spaces full of intrigue and words that teach. And despite our inclinations to agree or disagree with Borges, for us students, a library is a dire need.
With light filtering through screens of worry and bouncing off the arched spines of inviting books, the CEU Library has served the University’s students since August 1992, when the Head Librarian Maria Szlatky miraculously pulled together resources in a hurried few weeks. The Library has grown immensely since and now holds the largest English language collection of materials in the fields of social sciences and humanities in Central and Eastern Europe, while providing a comfortable haven 84 hours a week – needed luxuries for those it caters to.
However, what often stands between students and this wonderful, open space is the daunting task of preparing to access it. The thought of shoving one’s bag into a locker, precariously balancing a stack of equipment and material (and praying you haven’t forgotten anything), filling in forms for the books that are your own, checking in library books that you checked out the day before (only to check them out yet again as you leave), and to then have to repeat the activity an hour later as your mind leads you to the nearest coffee machine. Most turn to the convenient e-resources the library possesses that can be accessed from within the building, the nearest cafe or your own home. However, despite the charm and accessibility of some of these resources, the principle of an open society on which the Library was founded remains questionable in light of its rules.
The Mission Statement on the Library’s website ensures that its primary responsibility is to serve the CEU Community, a widely international cohort of people that strive towards maintaining a sense of openness, trust and respect for one another - all in an effort to build more democratic and open societies. And yet within its own building, many students are wary of accessing a significant space that encourages critical inquiry.
Although there remain a number of other complaints (like the sudden revoking of loaned books) and an equal number of appreciated aspects (like the forgiving nature of the library towards overdue books), the biggest dilemma seems to lie with the valuing of an open society and the deficiency of trust among those who participate in and promote it.
A meeting with the President of the Student Union, Luis Cano, and student representatives from departments with students most concerned about the functioning and accessibility of the Library has been scheduled for the upcoming week, and will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the merit behind the rules currently in force as well as guide future interaction between the Library and its users. More effective communication between the Library staff and students would definitely assist in addressing related issues. After all, as Harold Howe wisely opined, “What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels about education.”
Ruth Pinto, India, Environmental Sciences and Policy
Image: www.library.ceu.hu
Editorial note: The CEU Weekly is going to inform you on the planned new simpler policy of using the Library.
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