Library or Police Station in McFarland?
Whooooo… (Picture me whistling in an ‘oh boy’ kind of way, not that I know how to do that). I picked up this article the other day. It’s part of the New York Times’ “Across the Country” series. In this installment, a reporter goes to McFarland, California, a migrant farming community. The Police Department needs more space, and it’s eyeing the public library. Not surprisingly, conflict has ensued. The library of course offers services beyond checking out books: “Perhaps more so than in wealthier places with more options, the library serves a vital role. On average, 200 to 250 people come through the doors daily.” And many would agree that communities need effectively staffed and resourced police departments. McFarland, in particular, is seeing higher crime rates and an uptick in violent gang activity.
Most of us do not live in McFarland and are not privy to anything more than what news media or the community puts forth (this issue already received a lot of local press prior to the NYT piece), so we can’t really come barreling in with a right answer, can we? Although there of course are always those who want to — that’s the easy meme-fication of our culture. (What I would expect to see in a bookstagram-y space would be along the lines of “Libraries rock! Books save lives!” And the opposite at the other end of the spectrum. Both institutions have become politicized.)
The only thing I can offer is that here is where refining, titillating, and challenging your mind with complex fiction — novels that offer up something different than a tidy ending or easy morality tale — allows a glimpse into a more nuanced existence. Good fiction reflects humans’ messiest contradictions and confusions. It doesn’t necessarily offer up solutions. Instead, it gives us something else: An ability to observe things that are hidden or obscured. And that’s a better starting point than a meme.
(Wouldn’t it be great if some billionaire philanthropist swooped in to help McFarland?)
originally published on instagram