Butte Beat: This Place Has More Than Just Knowledge

BUTTE, MT - Utility.

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For many, it's one of the most important things in life: how things are used, how they can be used, and what they're intended to be used for.

It defines how we see and interact with objects in our everyday life. It's why you walk up to the order window at SheBrews for a coffee instead of trying to place an order at Murdoch's. It's there to support you, always running in the background, as you pick up a hammer to drive that nail into a wall instead of a screwdriver.

Sometimes, however, a thing's utility can be ambiguous, shrouded, obscure. That's where the real fun comes in. Creativity fills those gaps in effectively, even when a thing's utility is obvious and restrictive. In fact, creative utility sparks inventions and other objects to be utilized for something, until that something is eventually compounded up to make a new thing.

A wheel was originally invented not for transportation, but for pottery in Mesopotamia in 3500 BC. All it took was someone with enough creativity to realize that the pretty circular thing can be made bigger and stronger, shifting its utility from pottery wheel to wagon. The best part? Its original utility was never lost. It only grew.

Now, slap two wheels together, one in front of another, and connect them with a seat on top, and now the wheel can move people around. From there, gears and pedals transformed the device to create a localized, lightweight people-mover. All of that just from a wheel in an ancient pottery studio.

The point? Utility is what pushes us forward, along with keeping us alive and comfortable. It even helps us filter out the dumb and inefficient things from the good and promising ones. If I told you I created a bunch of little, metal spikes that didn't do anything beside sit there or poke your finger, you'd say, "Okay, who cares?" But give them a purpose—like screwing them on to the bottom of some shoes for grass-based sports—and suddenly you have something worthy of attention.

Architecture loves to discuss utility, only it likes to call utility "function." Function is what turns a restaurant into a big-box retailer ("Who says you can't have both?" - Target). Function is what keeps the internal climate a little warm or a lot cold (a plant shop versus a butcher shop). Function will even turn a library into a community center.

And that's where the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library comes in. The name produces the assumption: that it only provides you with book rentals, and perhaps maybe a computer or two to use. Those assumptions, while understandable, are plain wrong.

The Butte-Silver Bow Public Library (BSBPL) has amassed an impressive array of various utilities since its establishment in 1894. What perhaps began as a humble center of knowledge has grown into a place where anyone—from teens to older folks—are able to meet up consistently to hang out and bond over shared interests through weekly group events. Where groups can put on community events to highlight achievements and garner new interest. Where the Butte community itself can gather to learn new skills, new thoughts, and challenge each other.

Even if you aren't a reader, the BSBPL utilizes its function as a collection of books to humbly bolster its other incredible utility: creating a safe, judgement-free environment for the community to meet, discuss, or learn.