I am a Stranger Here Myself

I appeared before an international conference yesterday. (It was “international” because I was one of two American presenters, we were welcomed to country by a fellow of Aboriginal ancestry, and there were a couple of New Zealanders on the program as well.) In all a most intimate gathering since there were only about sixty five to seventy registrants gathered in the lecture hall of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The conference began with one of the most delightful talks I have ever heard in any gathering of information professionals. Benjamin Law, an Australian writer of Chinese-Malaysian descent, spoke about his family history in Australia with humor, grace, and touching detail. Benjamin is a gay man whose parents were divorced at a crucial time in his life, and anyone would reasonably expect a fellow with his background and experiences would have endured an adolescence of feeling like an “other” to the world around him. However, this young man flourished in Australia, became a successful magazine essayist, and his memoirs on his childhood, The Family Law, has been republished in numerous editions around the world and served as the basis for a smash hit Australian television series of the same name. He was an absolutely stunning speaker and he paid tribute to the archives and libraries where he did his research for the book. I told him after the talk that I sincerely hoped our American public television network would pick up the option on the show. (It would certainly be an improvement to their somewhat tired current lineup of British comedies.) Benjamin’s next book is an examination of the LGBT communities in various locations in China, Malaysia, and India which he has titled Gaysia. I hope our library will purchase his books if it has not already done so.

Those who know me well can testify that I have never really been intimidated by public speaking, but this time was different. Not only was my subject controversial, I also had the horror of a session timekeeper with a bicycle horn to give notice to windbags hogging the stage. I began by apologizing to the audience by identifying myself as an American and naming three disadvantages I was working under: I have a tendency to speak slowly, I have never given a Power Point lecture in my life (although I did show a video once), and last but not least, I had nothing to do with electing the current idiot that is slated to take the Presidential oath of office next January. With that said I

launched into my illustrated tirade which, on the surface, would seem to be insulting to each and every one of my listeners. I decried the contemporary librarian obsession with all things digital, damned the practice of destroying collections to make room for maker spaces and other such irrelevancies, and insisted that those whose work does not focus exclusively on curating the codex should cease referring themselves by the honored title of “librarian.” Along the way, I used some of my most provocative artwork to illustrate my points and got more than a few polite laughs. The real payoff began when after the talk so many of these Australian professionals came to be privately to confirm they felt the same way, and that they were glad SOMEONE was finally saying it out loud. I would hate to build a reputation as being the Don Rickles of library presenters, but this was most gratifying to hear from an audience I had mildly insulted and who had enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, back in our rented apartment Jayne suffered through another day of no television reception by proacively visiting a nearby electronic shop and purchasing a cable to connect our laptop to a giant screen monitor that dominates the living room of this hovel. As a result, we are now able to watch YouTube videos to keep her amused during the day while I attend the next sessions tomorrow and appear in a panel discussion on (you guessed it) the “future of the library.” Should I see any rotten tomatoes among the participants swag bag contents I will excuse myself.