Infophilia, a Positive Psychology of Information | August 5, 2025 | Vol. 3, Issue 48 | Bonus edition - Free, Open Access
✨Welcome to Infophilia, a weekly letter exploring how our love of information and connections helps us all thrive individually and collectively. This is one of the places where I’m pioneering a positive psychology of information, avant-garde research.
Developing adaptive infophilia as a shared vision of a “grand” theory of information is personally healing and liberating for me. Keenly aware of the materiality of texts and the benefits of digital access, I still find the physicality of public library spaces to be comforting and enriching experiences beyond measure. This is especially remarkable considering my entire career has been punctuated by the challenge: Physical books are going away; why are you buying them?
The book, in paper and various digital forms such as audiobooks, however, is proving to be a surprisingly robust and enduring form. And so is the American public library. In a few days, August 9, 2025 we’ll celebrate National Book Lovers Day. In its honor, I’m delighted to share an old memory and new pictures of how my hometown public library has been transformed from a county public library system branch to a city-run municipal library. Yes, libraries are understandably expensive to maintain, but their value as vital public spaces continues to grow.
Cite as: Coleman, Anita S. (2025, August 5). Heritage Park Library: grand opening. Infophilia, A Positive Psychology of Information, 3(48).
I have so many memories of Heritage Park Library as a young mom that it’s hard to select just one. But if I had to choose, it’s one of four boys on the grass in front of the library, books open around them, backpacks strewn around. Eucalyptus trees cast long shadows and the skies are blue. Not too far away from the children, I can see geese swimming around lazily in the pond. The background scenes are vivid. Cars are coming and going in an endless stream. A woman and child are returning books. A few teenagers are huddled in a group. I don’t recall exactly why the children were seated outside. It could have been for any number of reasons. Perhaps all the seated space inside this library that had been built less than a decade earlier was already taken. Perhaps, there weren’t enough quiet rooms for study. This was after all the busiest branch in the county public library system. It could also have been that the young boys just preferred learning outdoors. No matter what, on Sunday, August 3, when the library building reopened as part of the Irvine Public Library system, I enjoyed seeing the library full of families, children, teenagers, and adults, once again.
It was also good to see crafts and activities balanced with books, digital media, and welcoming, smiling librarians at mobile stations. All of the art in the library features Irvine’s history too (more on that another time).
Libraries are incubators of healthy infophilia. Librarians are curators of curiosity culture. Beyond the Fortress.
These photos of Heritage Park Library showcase adaptive infophilia in action: the library’s ability to foster a sense of community, promote learning, and imagination in ways that resonate deeply with its patrons. Librarians are nurturing curiosity and creativity, adapting to the needs and preferences of its patrons, young and old.
Library Future Planning continues with community sessions this week: Tuesday, August 5, 6-7:30 pm, Quail Hill Community Center and Thursday, August 7, 6-7:30 pm, Deerfield Community Center. Details here.
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