7 August 2011
Thinking Out Loud About Libraries
Posted by Brent under: Nothing Special .
The other day we went to the newly expanded and re-opened Union County Public Library in Blairsville. I admit it, being a bookworm I’ve always loved libraries. The new library is much improved from the old one, but this and other libraries are changing. The most-used room seems to be the computer lab, which Lora reports as being full on her last visit there. They now have paperbacks and old books they give away or sell for dollar-store prices. Probably only around 5% of the floorspace is dedicated to adult non-fiction. Other idiosyncrasies can be chalked up to the local demographics rather than the changing times, e.g. Lewis Grizzard volumes outnumber Tolstoy six-to-one, and they still have VCR tapes to loan. In any event, the library is changing, but can it change enough? Is it a dead-end or will it still be of value in the future? Some say the library will be obsolete by 2020, replaced by the web and the Kindle. If that day comes, I shall mourn, and put my library card on the ‘things past’ shelf next to my slide rule and cassette tapes.
2 Comments so far...
Brent Laminack’s Personal Site » The Unbrowsable Library Says:
8 August 2011 at 9:26 am.
[...] last post about libraries got me thinking. Libraries are trying to change to adapt to the times, but are all the changes for [...]
Dick Says:
20 September 2011 at 8:05 am.
I have an e-reader that I like but sometimes I like having a real book in my hand. Particularly, if illustrations are appropriate for the subject matter as in the case of techy reading. For one, why didn’t they design e-readers to use vector graphics? This way the illustrations could be as well behaved as the text (when reading non-PDF-formatted material). Bit-mapped graphics are sometimes cumbersome or even frustrating depending on the size of the illustration and the size and resolution of the display device. Like you, Brent, I really like browsing the shelves, too.
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