Brautigan Library

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Brautigan Library

September 26, 2008. By Peter Lloyd

Here's an innovative idea from the world of libraries, even though it may not be that new.

You may have read about it in The Abortion, the 1966 Richard Brautigan novel. Of course, that was the fictional version, which was strange enough. But a man named Todd Lockwood operates the real version, which is stranger than the fiction that inspired it.

The real-life Brautigan Library in Burlington, Vermont, contains a couple hundred unpublished works. And you can add your work, for a fee, which amounts to a lot less than the cost of publishing.

What about this concept of preserving unpublished creative effort? I think it says more about the business of publishing than it does about library science. But it also raises the question, Does the Brautigan Library encourage mediocrity?

Certainly, it offers an archive for the unacceptable. That is, works that probably would not pass at least one arbitrary test—commercial success. And just how important is the test of success? After all, work that a lot of people are willing to buy, is often by definition, mediocre.

So maybe there should be a place for ideas that may never fly. Who knows what other ideas they could lead to? Maybe there should be a catalog for recipes that never make the menu, songs that no one will ever sing, poems that no one will ever understand.

Just in case there's something the mindless tide of public opinion overlooks. Just in case all that really counts in being truly creative is doing your very best. Or at least trying.

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest business problems.

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