Signs Pointing the Way to the Public Library

Around my town recently I noticed that all the signs that had just a month or so ago read "Public Library" have been changed. They have now been replaced with a pictogram: one which shows a round head on a rectangular body with another small rectangle (the arm) ending in a smaller circle (presumably a hand) holding two merged squares (a book).

OK - firstly, my wildly sarcastic mind (and I'm sure yours as well) was thinking, "OK, why did they take down a perfectly good READABLE sign?" I mean, the Library exemplifies the joy of

oh I dunno

READING, MAYBE??!!!!!

I mean, let's face it, if you can't read you probably aren't going to be at the library, and if you ARE going to the library then you're probably learning how to read and a good first two words to learn are of course PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Honestly, I'm not that much of a status quo prude but [expletive!] honestly!! to change a sign to a pictogram!! especially for the library!!!

OK OK there is a growing element of hispanohablantes in my little pueblito, and a growing number of Spanish-language reading materials on the shelves and that's perfectly OK with me so maybe that's why they made a "linguistically-indeterminate" sign, but I STILL think that the sort of hispanohablantes who frequent the library are the sort of people who want to use its resources to learn English, so it's STILL a good two words to learn.

PUBLIC

LIBRARY

: not that hard. My four year old knew the words. She knew that meant the place to go get books.

Honestly, people.

So I called the Mayor. I told her I didn't like the new signs. The person at the other end of the phone who claimed to be the Mayor asked me why I didn't like them and I replied, "It's because the sign has a person holding a book. I can't read. That's offensive to me. Your sign 'presupposes' that I know how to read and that is definitely NOT politically correct. Also, the person in the pictograph has HANDS. I myself have NO HANDS!!! Your sign is infringing on my sense of self-worth, because it implicitly implies that people who frequent the library must READ AND HAVE HANDS!!!!!!"

I don't know at what point of my spiel that the person hung up, but when I took a breath and wiped the foam from my lips, the line was dead.

And so, it seems, is this rant.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

VG