It was the Summer Of Love. Rae Katherine was working in the library at Sir George Williams University in Montreal. And there was excitement building as Library Week approached - well, at least among librarians.
That year, they vowed, their excitement would spill out and flood the entire campus and make people truly appreciative of the wonderful resource they had. And the key to this miracle was going to be a catchy slogan.
The Head Librarian (wife of a noted Montreal columnist) was spearheading the drive. And it had been her idea to include everyone working in the library in the hunt for a great motto - even the "stack runners", those part-timers whose job it was to return borrowed books to their rightful places on the shelves.
Now, at that time, most of the stack runners were hippies - anxious to earn a few bucks and still able (even after multiple hits of purple acid) to comprehend and employ the Dewey Decimal System (that number coding scheme that designated how and where volumes were to be stored).
Until that time, the runners had been little more than shadowy figures pushing carts of books back and forth through the stacks - there but not altogether there, so to speak.
But all that was about to change, if the Head Librarian had anything to say about it.
She called a meeting and laid out her idea. This selection of a slogan, she assured them, would be real democracy at work - not the imposition of some boring platitude handed down from on high. This motto would be their creation!
And while Rae Katherine wasn't so sure about the whole business, she told me she had to admit the stack runners did seem to respond. Before long, little, hand-written notices began to appear on the staff bulletin board announcing the dates and times of brainstorming sessions. And the energy level of the whole library seemed to increase.
Then came the day for the runners to present their choice. And there was an air of giddy anticipation as they waited for their chance to share the results of their labours.
"You're gonna love it!" they insisted all that day before the unveiling. "The students are gonna love it, because it's really, really cool!"
Their excitement had even infected their boss who found herself watching the clock and anticipating the grand moment. Then, finally, it arrived.
The entire contingent of stack runners was there. And even if some of the faces seemed unfamiliar, it was only because they'd never surfaced before that moment to make themselves known.
Their elected spokesperson stood and asked "Are you ready for this?" And the rest of the staff assured her they were.
"Our suggestion," explained the spokesperson, "is that we distribute brightly coloured, pin-on buttons with our slogan printed on them in great big letters. Just two words!"
And every one leaned closer to catch those long-awaited words.
"Book you!"
And a ripple of excitement passed through every one of the runners... but no further than that.
They looked around eagerly for some glimmer of enthusiasm, some sign of congratulation from the others; but all they got was the weak parody of a smile from the boss.
In what must have been the most difficult speech she ever had to deliver, the Head Librarian tried her best to explain that what they'd worked so long and hard to achieve might not be precisely the slogan she was looking for.
And as she spoke, the fires that had been burning in eager eyes began to go out; and the hope that had kindled them began to die.
And the very next day, the runners returned to their work as shadows once more. They retreated into the stacks like so many defeated guerilla fighters. And as they shelved their books, they shelved with them any faith they'd ever had in democracy.
But, as far as I'm concerned, their slogan lives on!
And to this day, I feel I'm keeping some hint of their long-lost hope alive when, come Library Week, I offer it to yet another generation of librarians. And one day, in some better world, someone will listen to me and proudly take up the clarion call.
"Book You!" they'll say... and really mean it.
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