What Would Mrs. Ungerman Think?

The Florence W. Ungerman Library at Cape Cod Academy, designed by the Hisaka architectural firm, was born in the 1988-89 school year to the delight of the CCA community.

 

Florence Ungerman lived from February 21, 1915 to September 9, 1984. Inside the Ungerman Library, on the wall, is a framed tribute to her with a book she wrote, sailor’s valentines she created, and a charming photograph.
 

The Ungerman Library today hosts Information Literacy and Technology classes and various visiting classes, study halls and meetings. It also contains approximately five thousand books, periodicals, and daily newspapers.
 

Times have changed since the library opened. Yet, the books in Ungerman still stand sagaciously in their places, anticipating use by researchers and young adult fiction loyalists. The online world has diminished their usage stats and made them seem too heavy. Yet, when the electricity goes out, or some old spirit moves, when a student asks for The Old Man in the Sea or Huckleberry Finn or information about icebergs or ancient Egypt, it is doubly gratifying for me to dig these out by hand.
 

The Florence W. Ungerman Library is still a place where students unearth hard copy treasure. It is still a place where they indulge in quiet reading. However, now they study more in groups, or work in front of laptop and desktop screens.

 

What would Florence W. Ungerman think about this evolution should she be alive today? I think she would be excited by the changes in the library and in education in general; she would applaud the research opportunities available online. Maybe she would have her own blog about the book she wrote, Centerville Shipmasters and Seafaring Days, and invite us to post comments.

 

In all probability, too, Florence would be excited about our library’s first-rate collection. She would nudge kids towards the stacks, and tell them that traditional reading is good for the soul… that books are good to curl up with… that they are good fortune.