Dawn & Dusk: 奇異圖書館

原文摘自Huffington Post

今天來看一篇關於圖書館的有趣文章吧！

裡頭介紹許多我們意想不到的圖書館，

像是垂吊在樹叢中的圖書館、只容納一個讀者的圖書館，

還有可愛的駱駝圖書館和單車圖書館等。

想一探究竟嗎？

繼續往下看吧！

作者：Claire Fallon

claire.fallon@huffingtonpost.com

'Improbable Libraries' Beautifully Depicts The Fun Side Of Libraries

《奇異圖書館》巧妙刻劃圖書館的另一面

發佈時間: 05/04/2015 9:31 am EDT 更新時間: 05/04/2015 10:59 am EDT

Muyinga, Burundi 布隆迪（中非國家）穆因加省圖書館

There’s just something about a library -- its well-thumbed, plastic-sheathed bestsellers and dusty shelves of obscure treasures, all just waiting to be picked up and enjoyed by you. And then someone else, someone you may never meet. A library brings readers together into one space to share, exchange, and unlock the secrets of books. Oh, and it’s absolutely free to use.

關於圖書館呢，有這麼一個特點──不論是裹著塑膠套、久經翻閱的暢銷書，還是擺在滿是灰塵的書架上、鮮為人知的寶藏，都等著你去閱讀和享受。當然，你還會在圖書館遇到一些從沒見過的人。一座圖書館讓所有讀者聚集在同個地方，分享、交換和揭開書中的秘密。是的，這都是免費的。

The Sir Duncan Rice Library at the University of Aberdeen 鄧肯萊斯爵士圖書館，阿伯丁大學

Alex Johnson, a journalist for the U.K.’s Independent and the author of Improbable Libraries, agrees. But he’s also noticed that libraries don’t just operate out of drab brick municipal buildings or aged edifices with Gothic arches.

英國《獨立報》記者Alex Johnson也同意這個說法。他寫了本書，叫《奇異圖書館》。他知道，圖書館並不只是毫無生氣的磚塊建築或哥德式的古老大樓。

“There have always been entrepreneurial librarians,” he noted in an email to The Huffington Post, “such as those who ran circulating libraries in small crates for lighthouses in the 19th century or who used pack horses to carry books in the early 20th century -- but more recently the idea that the library can come to the reader ... seems to have become more pronounced.”

“懂得創新的圖書館長一直都有，”Johnson在寄給《赫芬頓郵報》的電子郵件中提到，“像是19世紀時用小木箱裝書、在燈塔裡經營流通圖書館的人，或20世紀初讓馬背滿書、當活動圖書館的人──而近代讓圖書館主動接近讀者的想法，似乎更展露無遺。”

William Hakewill's traveling library 威廉·黑克維爾的流動圖書館

Improbable Libraries, which documents unusual and visually striking libraries from across the globe, was Johnson’s shot at bringing “the fun and entertaining side” of libraries back into a conversation that’s become dominated by doom and gloom about their finances. “Both my parents are librarians,” he explained, “so it’s always been at the back of my mind.” And despite the rise of eBooks, he believes that "in a world which is becoming gradually more virtual, physicality will become increasingly valued.”

《奇異圖書館》介紹了世界各地不尋常又讓人驚艷的圖書館。Johnson希望藉此帶來圖書館“有趣又引人入勝的一面”，讓它再次融入人們的對話，而非任由財務噩耗繼續喧賓奪主。“我的父母都是圖書館員，”他解釋，“所以這件事一直擱在我心上。”儘管電子書興起，Johnson仍相信“在這個越來越數位化的世界，有形的事物反而會越受重視。”

Libraries also featured in another aspect of his family life. He met his wife while at Oxford. "We often worked together in the Radcliffe Camera,” he remembered. “It has very fond memories for me.” That and: “Before they give you a card there as a student, you have to promise not to kindle flame inside it, which is also rather endearing.” A practical measure, perhaps, but also the sort of charming institutional quirk that belongs to the world of libraries, rather than e-readers.

圖書館也在Johnson的家庭生活扮演重要角色。還在牛津時，他遇見了他太太；“我們常在拉德克利夫圖書館忙，”他回想，“那裡有好多快樂的回憶。你必須答應不在館裡點火才能拿到學生卡進去，這點子多可愛。”也許是出於實際考量，但這也是一種只存在於圖書館界的古怪規定，讀電子書的人是遇不到的。

Improbable Libraries documents libraries carried on camelback, dangling from trees and in good old-fashioned buildings; Little Free Libraries and libraries built for one. There are libraries designed to overcome a lack of infrastructure and governmental support, and libraries designed to capture readers easily distracted by their smartphones and Kindles. Whether it's a bicycle delivering books or a serene literary retreat, these institutions remind us of the ineffable power of holding a book in your hands and seeing the signs left by previous attentive readers -- a power digital texts can never replicate.

《奇異圖書館》收錄了駱駝背上的圖書館、垂吊於樹叢的圖書館和美麗老建築裡的圖書館，也介紹了小小免費圖書館（Little Free Libraries）和只容納一個讀者的圖書館；有為克服基礎建設不足或政府資助不夠的圖書館，也有一些特殊圖書館，專門吸引容易因智慧手機或Kindle而走神的讀者。不論是單車遞書還是寧靜的文學居室，這些地方都再再提醒我們那不可言喻的力量──一種雙手抱書的快樂、開心看著書上前一個讀者留下的筆跡──這種力量是電子書無法取代的。

The photos in Improbable Libraries give a glimpse at a present, and hopefully a future, in which libraries remain at the heart of our shared literary culture.

《奇異圖書館》內的照片讓我們能一窺圖書館的現況；它們仍是我們文學生活的中心，希望未來依然如此。