Hunger Games and the Harvard Library Transition

I had echoes of deja vu seeing the movie The Hunger games this weekend. The movie was a brutal depiction of the struggle for limited resources imposed on the working class by the ruling class. It reminded me of the labor movement in general, and the Harvard Library Transition in particular.

In a pivotal scene, that had eerie similarities to the infamous January Town Hall Meeting, where layoffs of an unspecified number of library staff were announced, the villagers gather for the lottery selection for the Tributes, a fight to the death in a virtual world controlled by the capitol where there can be only one survivor. Effie, a garishly dressed representative of the capitol tells the populace what an honor it is to be selected to represent their district in the tributes. She, much like the Transition Leaders, seems callously oblivious to the pain she is causing in contrast to the villagers whose dread at the prospect of being selected or losing a family to the annual bloodbath is palpable. A young child, Primrose Everdeen is selected. Katniss Everdeen in a display of extreme altruism steps forward to take her sister's place. Along with her, Peeta, the baker's son who earlier tossed a loaf of bread in her direction is also selected. The lower and middle class, managers and support staff are thrown into the same pot of stew!

Granted, though what's at stake here is a loss of livelihood, not loss of life, the similarities between the Hunger Games and the the Library Transition are startling. Katniss and Peeta travel in grand style by train to the capitol. Their host Effie urges them to enjoy two weeks of living and eating in lavish splendor, much like the transition site's stress alleviating profferings of chair massage and "chair yoga for librarians." They will also undergo mandatory training in martial arts and weight lifting while preparing for the fight to the death, much like the recommended resume and skills assessment workshops in preparation for the announced staff reductions. Kind-hearted, if cynical, mentors Cinna and Haymitch, like our workshop leaders advise the participants on strategy to survive, one piece of advice being, "you must be liked." All of their sage advice could be packaged in a workshop with the same title as our transition workshop: "Charting Your Course Through Turbulent Times." The capitol is ensuring that the ruling class will be entertained by the life and death struggle of the working class. As the participants are paraded in their costumes, and interviewed by a freakish talk show host, a sense of the surreal, rivaled only by the Transition Team's poker strategy night, and the upcoming Oxford style debate on the obsolescence of libraries (followed by gin and tonics), rises within me. The battle in the Hunger Games will be monitored and controlled by the capitol and broadcasted to all 12 districts.

Early alliances are formed, even though there can be only one survivor. Katniss strikes out on her own, avoiding even Peeta from her district and tries to survive without killing anyone. Peeta has joined a group that is seeking to kill her. As the participants are killed off their images appear on the dome of the virtual world along with their district number. Rioting breaks out in the various districts as their representatives and family members die. To appease the populace and distract them from their distress, the capitol changes the rules of the game and announces there can be two survivors, but they must be from the same district. Katniss seeks out Peeta, now that it is in both of their interests to survive. Together they fight off the last participants when the capitol changes the rules again announcing there can be only one survivor.

You will have to see the movie to find out the end of the Hunger Games story! We will have to wait much longer to find out what's really in store for the Harvard Library and its workers.