Somethin's wrong in my spiritual neighbourhood...

who am I gonna call? My public librarian! Yes, surprise...not the priest or pastor... and not the local theologian (do you even know who the local theologian is?) Sometimes when people have a spiritual question they turn to the place they go to answer questions like "where do I find information on jobs in Alberta?" or "when was Genghis Khan born?" The local public library.

I had an email from a librarian colleague who is working in the public library. He was asked a Bible question by a regular patron. He is a skilled librarian but not being satisfied with the information sources he had at hand he emailed me to ask for a second opinion. Yes, librarians do network to find the best answer to your question :) .

So why go to the public library to ask a religious/spiritual question?

1) Research has shown that even in the age of the internet, people are still the preferred source for information about personal life questions. Librarians are both accessible and available to answer your questions. They even have desks set up in the lobby just waiting for you to come and ask! If you can't come in person you can phone or email. That is not necessarily the case for churches whose staff may seem too busy or important to bother.
2) Libraries are perceived as community places where churches may be conceived as private places especially if you don't belong to that congregation.
3) Librarians are generally non-threatening. There's a surprise. Asking a religious question might feel safe there because the librarian isn't going to proselytize you. Librarians function under Codes of Intellectual Freedom and Ethics that require us to provide unbiased and complete information in a respectful and safe environment (that raises ethical issues sometime but that is for another post.) You don't have to join us if you ask the question. Though more librarians would be nice.

So why can't churches be more like libraries?