Libraries, Who Needs ‘Em? We Do

"Libraries, Who Needs ‘Em? We Do." Myrtle Beach Online Editorial / Carolyn Murray.
Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach Online, October 25th 2012.

"Libraries are one of the important places left in our society where everybody is equal. Rich or poor, powerful or a nobody, you can have the same access to books and resources as everybody else. They are one of the great levelers of society, where the poor man has exactly the same opportunity for improvement as the rich man. To abolish this democratization of knowledge out of some misguided notion that it is no longer needed in the digital age would wrongly transform books and knowledge into a luxury item, to be purchased by those who can afford them, rather than offered to all who ask for them."

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/10/25/3135081/libraries-who-needs-em-we-do.html#storylink=cpy

Libraries Adjust to Life in the Digital World

"Libraries Adjust to Life in the Digital World." Charleston City Paper / Erica Jackson.
Charleston, SC: Charleston City Paper Online, October 13th 2010.

"Charleston County Public Library's Executive Director Doug Henderson, who joined the organization in August, spent the last month hosting informal community meetings at all 16 branches to find out what patrons want out of their libraries.

"I'm hearing that they want larger libraries and more libraries, and we're telling them that they're talking to the choir," Henderson says. "They need to get out and talk to the elected officials and explain to them what they think their priorities are and what they hope their elected officials will support. And we'll see what happens, won't we?"

Though hours have been reduced, usage is up in local libraries — a predictable trend in the bad economy. In the last decade, circulation has increased 94.5 percent, user visits are up 32.9 percent, and programs offered are up 74 percent. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, the Main Library on Calhoun Street was positively bustling."