Read this blog post about the “Death of the Library.”
Can’t say that I agree… but it’s always good to read opposing viewpoints, especially when they may reflect what a good portion of the “non-library” population is thinking.
How can libraries use the knowledge that these arguments are floating around and becoming widespread among our potential users in a constructive way?
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January 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
There are so many inaccuracies and silly generalizations in that post that it is hardly worth bothering with. I don’t have time to worry about arguing with this guy because I’m too busy trying to take care of the people who are using my library’s services, both in the building and remotely. I imagine the director of my local public library (which is always packed) would probably feel the same way.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
If nothing else, we read stuff like this so we know how the “enemy” thinks. As for the particular piece in question and how to answer here, here is one possibility:
Where he writes: “every college studen, or a good portion of them now have their own laptop. So now they “walk” around with access to any and all information/research that they will ever need.”
All we have to do is point out the fallacy of that. No, not everything is out there on the World Wide Web. Sure, you can get a lot of it at your local Starbucks (or wherever you go to get your free WiFi) using Google, but it is not any and all you will ever need. Then there is the issue of quality. And then how about if Google points you to an article (say you get lucky and get something from Google Scholar) that may be good. Well, you need a subscription for it. You could get your credit card out and pay for a copy. Or, guess who has subscription and will be happy to give you access? Yes, that is correct: the library. This is just one of the things we should be pointing out every time someone out there wants to predict the libraries’ demise.
By the way, not to nitpick, but the guy does have a few typos.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I agree it’s not worth rebutting. But I feel like these kinds of arguments are getting really popular with some of our budget voters. I wonder if that’s an indication that we need to do something constructive to address this kind of an attitude within our own communities to proactively address these kinds of concerns within our communities. The generalizations may be silly and inaccurate, but he’s not the only one out there thinking this way.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
LOL Angel - if only I never had any typos!
January 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
At age 81 and still an avid reader since my older sister taught me to read the comics before I started school, I have been a strong user of whatever library I could get to. During summer vacations I would check out and read four books a day, especially loving the Horatio Alger inspirational books for young boys. I also spent as much time in my school libraries as I advanced through the grades as I could, expecially the Encyclopedias which I consideed just wonderful. In College I majored in English Literature, and again spent much time reading the world’s classics available in the English Language.
Now that I have reached the third age of mankind, I again have time following retirement to read. But my local library is now long closed, and the next nearest library is very far away, and a difficult drive for me. I also note that our San Jose Calif. schools have closed their in-school libraries due to lack of funding, along with classes in music and art, but still have their sports programs naturally. And they are producing students who cannot read at anywhere near grade level, and cannot pass the final state examination required to graduate.
Fortunately there are still many students who do use our libraries, and when I can go, I see many students there, which pleases me very much. But since emphasis is upon materials for their student users these days, there is very little to interest me any more, nor is there adequate shelf space even if they wanted to. And this makes me very sad, as I cannot buy books for my home to make up for this lack. Besides most of the books I really want to read are long out of copyright, and of course out of print as well, so the library couldn’t buy them even if it were possible for them considering their inadequate budgets and space limitations. Perhaps some of these could be obtained through inter-library loan programs, but i just cannot make the many trips to the library this would entail.
So what have I done: I bought a Kindle on the first day in November it was available, and got mine on Dec. 12th. And I dearly love it — it meets my needs to a T where nothing else I can find has even come close — especially my long loved libraries, for which I cannot blame them at all. While the price was steep for me, it was well worth it for me in many ways. What I have done is to go to the many internet sources of free out of copyright ebooks, which I downloaded to my computer, and then uploaded to my Kindle also for free using a USB cable provided with my Kindle. Some of them wlll even send them direct to my Kindle, who charges me ten cents for the wireless feed cost it incurs with Sprint to move them direct to my Kindle.
Today my Kindle contains 72 books, and this is growing as I find many more free books to store there, which I had never had any hopes of owning before. For example I am now reading Horatio Alger’s “The Store Boy” which I had almost forgotten I read it so long ago, but do have scraps of memory about it. I have stored many books written by Charles Dickens, who was a marvelous writter. Other authors I have saved so far to read as I can get enough time, are Lewis Carrol, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Asimov, The Dalai Lama, Thomas Hardy, Robert Burns, Niccolo Machiavelli, Robert Lewis Stevenson, William Shakespear, and many many more. And thre are an incredibly number of more books I can get for free when I have time to download them, and put them on my Kindle.
Can you now see where the Kindle has met a totally unmet need in our fast growing society? I hope it never replaces a library, even if I have little trust in politicians who must supply the funding. And I see where a library in Florida is now loaning out their two Kindles like they loan books, and anticipate greatly increasing this number as they can get them. And obviously libraries must grow with the times, else they stand the chance of becoming quickly obselete - which none of us want to see. So do not feel that you are being attacked by the original writer here. Look upon it as an opportunity to review your present positions, and consider new ones which meet our changing needs.
Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif
January 19th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I knew that I would probablly ruffle some feathers when I wrote the piece but it was written from the stance of someone that is watching one of the most amazing decades unfold since the dawn of the internet; and that is the advent of the social network, the monolith known as the mobile device, and the company that has now become a verb—->see Google. All three of these things have lead me to take the stance that I’ve taken.
Do not get me wrong, I’ve spent as much time as anyone in the library. whether it was studying, reading for pleasure, doing research or yes, even sleeping, you can bet your last dollar I was in the library. It was my sanctuary.
But the times they are a changing. Trust me I know that the libraries are trying to evolve with the digital revolution but, they are not trying hard enough. Can anyone ever recall a PSA or anything remotely resembling PR on the behalf of a library? Gen Y and Gen C don’t think of the library the way the boomers do.
Our libraries need to have an answer for 3 things. Mobile, Search, and Social Networks. The Kindle answers the mobile issue and as Charles points out, a library in florida is loaning them out. It addresses the issue, sort of but still. There are too many indicators that point to the value or importantce of the library diminishing. I hope I’m wrong.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Libraries are handicapped in a great many ways when it comes to marketing and advertising in the traditional sense. Because they are primarily independent entities run by cities, towns, counties, schools and colleges, they are all different and do not have the kind of money to run effective or large enough advertising campaigns.
Some states have tried to run advertising campaigns to raise awareness of libraries in general and, of course ALA has also had PSA compaigns, but today’s media market is a for-profit one where a marketing campaign costs millions. And, libraries simply don’t have that funding. It used to be that the public believed in the common good for all in their community, especially because it was too expensive to go out and buy your own, but no longer. Now everyone wants to reduce taxes to pay for their own ideas, gadgets and stuff, forget about those who don’t have the resources.
However, if you want to see what Massachusetts is doing, you can go to their new web site at http://www.mass.gov/libraries. They also are running a TV & radio campaign to get folks to the site.