I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in READATHON again because (1) I love the library, (2) I want to support it, and (3) I get the chance to read something new to me, usually a book that commemorates an event or anniversary.

2025 is the 75th anniversary of the publication of I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Asimov began writing the Robot stories in the 1940s, which were later published in book form in 1950, and connected with an overarching storyline. With its success, Asimov became the father of fictional robots, rockets, and interstellar travel. But the 9 stories in the book are less about science and more about ethical quandaries as rigid logic fails in the face of nuanced human needs. 

The first stories focus on robot-human relationships, and this is where Asimov introduces his famous 3 Laws of Robotics, which govern robot behavior: (1) a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, (2) a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the 1st Law, and (3) a robot must protect its own exisitence as long as such protection does not conflict with the 1st and 2nd Laws. The plots revolve around human-robot dynamics and how they - the robots and the humans - puzzle out how to apply the 3 Laws when they conflict with one another. 

The later stories feature U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., the company responsible for most of the design and manufacture of robots, and the employer of the scientists featured in the stories. The moral dilemmas still predominate, but now they're complicated by powerful people and politics. Throughout the book, it is humans and their fear of robots (think: Frankenstein) who initiate the drama. Robots are designed to be logical, data-driven, dutiful, even incorruptible. But humans see robots as arrogant, superior, unpredictable, and threatening; all behaviors exhibited by humans in the book. Again and again, the machines behave as they were designed, and the complicated, messy humans work to clear up the problems that result.

In the story "Evidence," a man seeks an important elected office, and - to discredit his fitness for public office - is accused of being a robot masquerading as human. The primary evidence against him, although never explicitly stated, is that he is too kind, too good, too perfect. The question is never resolved in the story or for the reader, but U.S. Robot's robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin suggests a resolution when she says, "If he follows all the Rules of Robotics, he may be a robot, or he may simply be a very good man."

Libraries are like that, places where readers can wrestle with ambiguity, change and broaden their perspective, find doubt and discovery. It's a human space in a world increasingly influenced by algorithms and automation. Asimov's stories remind us that technology is not neutral; it reflects human values, fears, and hopes. Supporting the library means supporting the ongoing conversation about what kind of future we want to build.