PARK LIBRARY: FROM MIDNIGHT TO THE MORNING STAR

 

The books in Park Library have lively conversations after the night porter’s been round? There’s no way to prove it, though toy shops are said to come to life after midnight, so why not libraries? Back in the 70s when the early Community established Park Library, topics for the midnight conversations might have included UFOs, fairies, Martin Buber’s I and Thou, Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful and how to grow vegetables. We can identify the books of the 70s — and each subsequent decade — from the acquisition date that’s written inside every book. The first library was established in 1969 in a hut near the Caddy’s caravan and run by Mary Coulman. Two years later it moved to a groundfloor room of Park Building where it has been ever since.

Magic happens here. There is, according to a geomancer on a recent visit, a power point just beyond the library window that overlooks the cherry tree and the garden. Library users comment on the special energy of the place and some report meaningful coincidences. It’s not unusual for people to forget the title they came in to borrow, only to find it staring at them from a shelf. Eureka! Or perhaps they have no idea what they are looking for, then discover the very book is in their hands to help heal a broken heart, make compost, or meditate. Park Library is a cornerstone of the Findhorn Mystery School, a microcosm that tangibly reflects the macrocosm.

Connie Marsham built up the present collection of around 5,000 books. In 2000 Dina Leigh studied librarianship at Moray College and introduced the simple-but-effective borrowing system in place today. I started working with Dina in 2006 and continued after she left the Community, holding a vision with others to energise the library.

The library badly needed an overhaul. Noisy neon lights, walls unpainted since 1971, huge filing cabinets barring the easeful flow required by browsing borrowers — these features had short-circuited its energy. Then, funds were discovered that had been raised in the 1990s specifically for Park Library. Not enough to create the state-of-the-art library-cumlearning resource centre envisioned by some in the Community; enough, though, for the refurbishment of 2009 which created a tranquil space with new furniture including a study table. The filing cabinets containing part of the Findhorn Foundation archive were moved to the attic annex.

Up to 100 new books are taken into the system every year. The library raises a small amount from sales, through The Phoenix (which generously takes no profit for itself ), of donated books it cannot keep. Direct cash donations from a variety of sources enable the purchase of new books that reflect the multifarious interests of the community. The present Park Library team is Elisabeth Tønsberg, Penny Johnston, and me, Sian Mackay.

Twenty-first century conversations between the books in the wee small hours are more complex than they used to be. The UFOs have little to say, while whole choruses pour forth from the sections on Relationships, Health and Wholeness, Environment, etc, and books on science have huddled debates with the various religions until the morning star appears. Cicero, the 5th-century Roman orator, wrote: “If you have a library and a garden you have everything you need.” Park Library, overlooking the beautiful garden and the cherry tree, proves his point.

Sian Mackay