Evolutions

This week I’ve watched the DVDs, music CDs, Blu-Rays, Books on CD and VHS for adults move to the second floor of the Cedar Falls Public Library. There wasn’t much to move in the VHS category, it’s been whittled down to the few that still checkout. But the remaining formats will have room to stretch out and expand, and show off. In turn, that allows more room for popular fiction and large print on first floor. The older nonfiction print on second floor has been slowly and quietly receding, chased away by the Internet. It’s like watching an evolution of sorts. The afternoon of April 16, the Waterloo Public Library will celebrate an anniversary in our current building. Thirty years ago, the original two Carnegie public libraries went their separate ways while library services were consolidated into an updated post office and federal building. In this relatively short time, the paper card catalog was first computerized, and then put on the Internet. Video discs turned into tape, with that little skirmish between Beta and VHS. All for naught maybe, as movies slid back onto discs on their way to streaming. Expansive reference collections were digitized and put online, while other things remained in the original format: the people who use the library. Children who listen to stories, people who sit and read, and residents who need help wading through information sources. Reflecting back is like tracing our genealogy. The Waterloo Public Library is celebrating Genealogy Week April 18-22, with sessions on lineage society applications, courthouse research, Googling your family tree, and much more. There’s even a trip to the cemetery. The Cedar Falls Public Library is celebrating Poetry Month in a big way this year. Visits from Scott Cawelti, Duffy Hudson and Vince Gotera will be fantastic celebrations of the rhythm of words in our language. Spending time at the library is a great investment of your time. And who wants to miss out on cake?