"More than books" is the most worthless cliché in the professional world, and I'm tired of pretending it's not.
In the library, everything is books. And that's a good thing.
Let me say up front I'm not advocating for a more traditional view of libraries. I get frustrated at the assumption that I became a librarian because I must love books. I'm not even a particularly bookish person compared to a lot of my friends and relatives.
For me, libraries are about information access. In other words: books! The value proposition isn't the romantic experience of books - it's a much more vital social function. It's getting people the information and stories they need. Books, and all other forms of information, are empowering. As a librarian who believes that knowledge is for everyone, I see "more than books" as selling this mission short.
This framing puts libraries in the position of constantly having to justify their existence against some unnamed critic who apparently thinks books are worthless. It's like they're arguing with a strawman who's saying "books are obsolete" when no-one in the world even thinks this.
Years and years of insisting libraries are "more than books" has certainly had an impact on the fact libraries are, in fact, BOOKS.
— kelly jensen (@heykellyjensen.bsky.social) January 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM
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When I hear librarians say libraries are "more than books" it feels like a defensive response to digital disruption. "Please don't think we're irrelevant!"
You might also hear the phrase in puff pieces about a library openings or renovations. "With maker spaces, computer labs, and community meeting rooms, this library is proving that libraries are more than books!" Every. Single. Time. Or listicles and marketing pieces highlighting random services. "Did you know you can borrow cake pans? And use 3D printers? And attend meditation classes?" Which, fine, those are all great, but don't add up to a coherent story about what libraries fundamentally do.
I want to be fair: I think that advocacy librarians and vocal library leaders usually do a fantastic job of articulating "information access for all" as the fundamental mission of libraries. The problem comes from multiple directions, often media, but we should be wary of embracing the "more than books" message even when it comes from librarians and well-meaning people trying to help.
Because why are we throwing books under the bus? "Free books" is an incredible service to be able to provide. It's the main selling point for the majority of users! Why shy away from such a valuable proposition?
Librarian Misha Stone made a powerful and compelling case against "more than books" messaging in 2024, arguing that it creates "a binary rhetoric that pits core services against new or emergent services." Stone proposes "Books and More" as an alternative slogan, but I think this still accepts the premise that books and other services are separate categories rather than a unified whole. My thesis is simpler: "Books" is just another word for "accessible information and stories," and that covers the diverse range of library services, through all kinds of communities and all types of libraries.
The common thread I see when people say "more than books" seems to be a rebuttal to some perceived charge of obsolescence of libraries in the digital age, at which point it apparently makes sense to point out the library's collection of digital materials.
News flash: ebooks and audiobooks are, in fact, books! Who cares whether that book comes as pixels, sound waves, or ink on paper? Such distinctions are meaningless.
Even things in the collection that are technically not books - like online journals and newspapers, archives, borrowable tools and objects, movies, games - they're all still information and stories in various forms, and offering a false binary of "books vs. everything else" doesn't serve any purpose. I know it sounds strange to say that a streaming movie is a book, or a hammer you can borrow is a book, but that's exactly my point - when I say everything is "books", I'm really talking about access to whatever tools and information people need.
Even if we look beyond collections and into other services that libraries provide - whether it's events and classes, specialised research services, maker spaces, story time, homework help, community engagement, or just wifi and a desk - these activities all revolve around empowering users with access to information. It's books.
When you say "more than books" to distance yourself from some outdated stereotype, you're accidentally distancing yourself from your core mission. It's like a doctor saying they're "more than just treating illness" - technically true, but why would you lead with that? It's scattered and defensive as a message. It attempts to define what you're NOT rather than what you ARE, and doesn't even do that effectively. What's more than books? What's more than the emblem of knowledge, stories and literacy and all the things libraries are about?
Libraries are fundamentally about books, in the broadest sense. That's actually their greatest strength, not something to apologise for.
#librarysky please don't be mad at me
— Hannah Shelley, MLIS (Metadata, Lattes & Impostor Syndrome) (@hannahshelley.bsky.social) September 26, 2025 at 10:31 AM
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