{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://frankhecker.com/2013/02/23/the-library-as-spiritual-experience/",
  "path": "/2013/02/23/the-library-as-spiritual-experience/",
  "publishedAt": "2013-02-23T16:30:42.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:77mn3ult3b72tpvtqqva6tat/site.standard.publication/3mpfmfpu4u72n",
  "tags": [
    "howardcounty"
  ],
  "textContent": "I think this is a record for me: Three posts in one day, and all about libraries to boot, to mark the occasion of the “[Evening in the Stacks][Evening]” fundraising event at the Miller Branch of the Howard County Library System.\n\nAfter finishing my [last post][last po] I happened to be thinking of the role that libraries play in the life of their communities and how libraries are portrayed in TV and films: as just another setting for sitcom wisecracking and rom-com “meeting cute,” or perhaps as a place to go to discover mysterious dark secrets leading to overblown action sequences---what I’ll call the “Indiana Jones” or Da Vinci Code perspective.\n\nAs an antidote to all that I present possibly the most beautiful cinematic scene ever set in a library, from the Wim Wenders film _[Wings of Desire][Wings o]_ (_Der Himmel über Berlin_), as angels (the men and women in long coats and scarves) visit the [Berlin State Library][Berlin] (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) and overhear the thoughts of the patrons as they read.\n\n{{< youtube 3LsUFzuTeS4 >}}\n\n[Evening]: http://www.hclibrary.org/index.php?page=330\n[last po]: {{< relref \"2013-02-23-turbocharging-downtown-columbia-with-a-new-central-branch-library.md\" >}}\n[Wings o]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Desire\n[Berlin]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_State_Library\n\n  *\n\nJessieX - 2013-02-23 16:35{#9adb5c1a-001}\n\nAmen, Mr. Hecker! I often refer to the library -- East Branch, and my own personal fave -- as a sanctuary and holy place.",
  "title": "The library as spiritual experience"
}