The Librarian’s Paradox

The Librarian’s Paradox

When I was in my PhD program, a couple of my professors prescribed research for us at presidential libraries. It was at a time when libraries were transitioning to electronic resources of all documents and photos, but not fully. So, we would visit presidential libraries as researchers to find out what we could about speech drafts and view original sources. Often, we would get to handle the original documents: the original drafts of presidential speeches and internal memos. Pretty cool. (At the Reagan library, I handled the original photo contact sheet from the day of the assassination attempt. Woah!)

Understandably, the research staff was protective of the documents. They faced a paradox. If they let everyone in, the records could be destroyed. But if they let no one in, there would be no reason to have them staff the archives. In 2013, I reached out to a presidential library about a visit, and their response was, “Don’t visit. Our resources are online.” Hmmmm. If everything’s virtual, why do we pay physical archivists?

Does every field live in the balance and tension of paradoxes like this?