"“The library belongs to everyone,” [Ken] Linge said. “It’s a community living room.”To that end, today’s libraries are “a little less rigid,” he said. “We want to be an inviting and a comfortable place for people to come.”"
See:
"“In the past generation, public libraries have reinvented themselves to become technology hubs in order to help their communities access information in all its new forms,” Kathryn Zickuhr, a research analyst with Pew and a co-author of a report on the survey’s findings, said in a written statement.Pew questioned 2,252 Americans ages 16 and older via cellphones and landlines from Oct. 15 to Nov. 10 last year, in both English and Spanish. More than half of those surveyed said that they wanted more e-book selections in their public libraries, and would be likely to check out e-readers already loaded with books — a significant increase from a survey a year ago."
"As part of my spiel when pitching this then-controversial approach, I’d often point out that the very notion of a “workplace” has become quaint. In a knowledge-and-skills economy, work occurs wherever the worker thinks. No one ever heard of a “thinkplace.”But perhaps there is a “thinkplace” after all: the library.It’s the traditional intersection of huge amounts of information with the silence that enables its assimilation into our minds and values and imaginations. And its shepherded by knowing, caring librarians who can understand where we’re trying to go and point out the most enjoyable paths."
"My library is a remarkable value -- a banquet of books and periodicals, earnest service, and free WiFi. Lately, libraries are playing an unheralded role in the economic recovery by helping people find work and build businesses."
"[Lynda] Duke and [Andrew] Asher said they were surprised by "the extent to which students appeared to lack even some of the most basic information literacy skills that we assumed they would have mastered in high school." Even students who were high achievers in high school suffered from these deficiencies, Asher told Inside Higher Ed in an interview.
In other words: Today's college students might have grown up with the language of the information age, but they do not necessarily know the grammar."
"And as city council looks for places to cut, councilor Doug Ford, the brother of Mayor Rob Ford, started counting library branches and Tim Hortons outlets. Now, his math was off. There are actually about three Tim Hortons for every one library branch in his neighbourhood.
But his comments have unleashed a fierce debate over the value and the future of libraries ... a debate that is already being fueled by questions about the role libraries play in the internet era, when so much information is readily available from just about anywhere."
"According to a recent ALA report issued by Mr. Inouye's office, it is vital that libraries adapt to the shift in how patrons seek resources.
"The purely physical library is no longer strategically realistic," the report reads, adding that while most public libraries are maintaining their physical branches, they are increasingly being drawn toward the "virtual endpoint."
In addition to making technological strides, librarians are stressing the many free resources available to patrons. With more adults out of work and money tight, the library is a place where people can conduct employment search efforts and even continue with leisurely endeavors."
"Teacher-librarians have been among the first to be sacrificed when boards make cuts, and the digital innovations they help students navigate are now being used as the justification for eliminating their jobs, and Canada is bucking an international trend of investing in school libraries."
"Reference can’t be dead because when I’m on the reference desk, I rarely have a moment’s reprieve. I’m the young one, and also a distance runner, but I often go home exhausted. If people are using the reference desk, who are we to decide that it’s no longer needed? Yes, our role is evolving, but it has always done that, and will always do that. Saying our core function is no longer needed is not something we get to do–that’s up to the library users.
The biggest argument against the reference desk is that people are tech-savvier and don’t need our help as much. Ok, that’s fair, but with increased access to information comes the increased need to filter out good information from bad. That’s always been our job. ...
Also, let us not forget that many public library patrons are not tech savvy at all. Twenty percent of people do not have a computer at home, and the bulk of library users probably grew up with keyboarding and typing classes rather than computer classes. We’re supposed to be breaking down the digital divide and enabling people to access technology, not shutting them out because they’re not savvy enough to use the library anymore. Ever seen an old man pick up a computer mouse and aim it at the screen like a remote control? I have, and I don’t think it’s rude to say that that man will not be taking advantage of ebook downloads."
"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."
"This kills me. Seriously. The idea that we, the book people, would allow our libraries to wither from lack of access to content, with the impoverishment that implies for our communities and our children and our democratic society…it kills me."
"Within 20 years, perhaps even as few as 10, virtually almost all forms of popular consumable written media will be distributed exclusively in an electronic format. While there are clear advantages to digital media, such as the instantaneous purchase and delivery of that content, elimination of book shortages at bookstores as well as the obvious portability benefits, it has a sociological impact that many have not considered — which is that the “Have Nots” of society may find themselves denied access to an entire range of content they enjoyed previously with the printed book, newspaper or magazine.
What I’m talking about of course is the Public Library. You know, those big, quiet buildings in your town filled with shelves of books, card catalogs, and librarians to help you find that material. In a fully digital society, we won’t need Public Libraries anymore. They won’t be cost effective, and there will be far less new printed books, magazines and newspapers being released to stock these libraries with.
The demise of the Public Library will be a slow one. As printed content becomes more scarce and less people visit the libraries, there will be a culling which will start with library consolidation in towns, counties, major metropolitan areas and states."
"Some traditional librarians worry that experiments aimed at making libraries more accessible could dumb them down. ... Joan Frye Williams, a library consultant and futurist, believes that the underlying purpose of libraries will not change, even if bookshelves disappear."
