Emerson Hearts Local Library

Discovered the following this a.m. courtesy of my friends in Twitterland. From the St. Louis Post Dispatch: "ST. LOUIS -- Emerson Electric Co. has given $4 million toward the renovation of the St. Louis Public Library, officials announced Thursday. The donation is designated for a Locust Street Atrium at the back of the building." The rest of the story is here.

Good on the folks at Emerson. I have a soft spot in my heart for libraries. Not only did I get my first job at one (and no, it wasn't quite so long ago that the books were all copied at the scriptorium and chained to the shelves because they were one-of-a-kind items, although it seems that way sometimes), but all that free information, there for the asking just blew my little-kid mind. When you think about it, in its own way, the public library was the first glimpse of the "information-wants-to-be-free" meme. All you needed was that little orange card (blue for grown-ups) and everything from Curious George to My First Book of Astronomy was yours to take home and read. Cool.

Sure, the game has changed. Now the kids bring their netbooks and laptops in to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi and you can rent CDs, DVDs and even pictures if you want, but the basic idea is still there. A real building (not just cyberspace) devoted to information--a gathering place for folks who want/need to know--stuff. And access to all that information even for people who can't afford to get it anywhere else.

Cheers to Emerson for being a good corporate citizen.