The Heart of the University: Revisiting an Enduring Metaphor

abstract:One of the most enduring and controversial metaphors to describe the academic library is this: "The academic library is the heart of the university." For 150 years, librarians have both embraced and rejected this metaphor in equal measure. For some, the metaphor is old, dusty, and ignorant of contemporary library practices; for others, it endures precisely because of the place it affords the library at the center of the university. While it is understandable that these polarized views persist, is contestation the only possible outcome of this discussion? Subjecting the metaphor to a more critical analysis has the potential to rekindle an appreciation for it and to reveal other possible understandings hidden within its words. This paper draws on traditions of metaphor analysis to invite questions about how this metaphor might be construed and read differently. In doing so, the aim is to indicate why and how the metaphor remains vital, and to examine how it can refresh academic library scholarship and practice. Its future relevance lies not with the library as the heart of the university, but with the library engaged in the scholarly debate about what the heart of the university is.