What makes a library a library?

"Before there are books, when there are no people, what intrinsically makes a library a library?" I says to Chrystie, trying to keep the sun out of my eyes and my sleeves out of the mustard. We were by far the coolest people at Linda's that afternoon, each sharing how we were saving the world with our respective 'architecture' and 'libraries' and locked in the first first-date conversation I had in Seattle that didn't leave me wondering if I would have been better off at Deja Vu, all over again. No one at our greasy little dive-bar could make the same claim. We were there because she chatted me up in a gourmet coffee shop earlier that week, flashing her fancy new business cards at me. If she were high-maintenance, or lacking a sense of humor, the restaurant ambiance embodied by severed animal heads and the grease-stench of my veggie sandwich would surely filter out what I needed to know.

'Community space' is the first criteria for a library. I don't remember what was asked of me or how I answered, but most striking to me was how insightful Chrystie's questions were - strung together from bits between the lines of what I was saying rather than what I was saying directly. Then I realized, she was actually listening to me and she's a smart one - smarter than me - or she was reading my mind. Either way, it was good. Team-Chrystie was proving to be in a class of its own and I wanted to be a card-carrying member. I straight-up told her I am delightful and considerate.

'Information' is what a library is about, not books, so the building needs to be technologied-up. It is a portal to knowledge and cornerstone of democracy; an equalizer of social strata.

Then comes the shocker: "Britney Spears." We were now at the Space Needle looking due west, nearing sunset. Had the date started by admitting guilty pop culture pleaures like Britney Spears were on the list of concert musts past and future, the date might have been shorter. And sure, we all love the work Ms. Spears does, but to admit it so freely is never done - and on the first date? The next day I emailed her that I had a lovely evening.