. . LIBRARIES: PUBLIC LIBRARIES : EDUCATION: LEARNING: Are Public Libraries Obsolete?: The Shelf Life of a "Dream Vision" . . Are Public Libraries Obsolete?: The Shelf Life of a "Dream Vision"By Nukapai BLOGCRITICS.ORG
Published 07:11 p.m., Wednesday, August 3, 2011 Seattle PIhttp://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/ article/Are-Public-Libraries-Obsolete-The-Shelf-Life-of-1718186.php
. A shorter URL for the above link: . http://tinyurl.com/3haby92 . .What are libraries for? To the generations that have grown up with free access to local public libraries, this may seem like a stupid question. The recent library closures in UK and USA have generated heated debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Should we forget about libraries now that we have the iPad and Amazon Kindle? Should we force our children to look things up in printed encyclopaedias when it's so much easier to search for things on the Internet? Should we continue to pay for a building full of books?
.According to author and motivational speaker Seth Godin, libraries were initially just "warehouses for books worth sharing". This at a time when books cost "about as much as a small house". We've come a long way from that. Books have been accessibly priced, widely available and part of our everyday lives for centuries. There are, of course, regions of the world where books are still a treasured luxury but most of us in the developed countries have encountered, read through, and owned our fair share of books. Many of us have grown up using libraries. But when was the last time you visited one?
.Whether libraries should continue to exist has almost nothing to do with what format the information comes in. It has everything to do with free public access to well-curated, well-organised, unbiased information; it has everything to do with libraries as part of the local community; it has everything to do with libraries as a source of entertainment that doesn't presume everyone's lives are an endless race to acquire wealth and possessions. Librarians aren't out to sell you anything.
.I can look up information from reliable sources via my local library's online reference shelf. If I just searched the Internet, the same task would take me much longer because of the vast amount of unnecessary and unreliable information that I would have to wade through. Better still, when I visit my local library in person, the knowledgeable staff there know how to get to what I need in the shortest possible time and they often point out things that I wouldn't have known to look for.
.Whether libraries should continue to exist has almost nothing to do with what format the information comes in. It has everything to do with free public access to well-curated, well-organised, unbiased information; it has everything to do with libraries as part of the local community; it has everything to do with libraries as a source of entertainment that doesn't presume everyone's lives are an endless race to acquire wealth and possessions. Librarians aren't out to sell you anything.
.I can look up information from reliable sources via my local library's online reference shelf. If I just searched the Internet, the same task would take me much longer because of the vast amount of unnecessary and unreliable information that I would have to wade through. Better still, when I visit my local library in person, the knowledgeable staff there know how to get to what I need in the shortest possible time and they often point out things that I wouldn't have known to look for.
.Librarians are information professionals. Can we really do without them in this age of information overload? How much more effective, stress-free, and simple would our lives be if we all had access to a good information professional?
. snip .So what can you do if your local library is threatened? See what's available there. Visit more often. Take your friends and your children. Join an adult education class. Look up professional journals to get a better grade for your next essay. Research the competition before you start up that business. Find out who your local political influencers are and write to them about your library. Start a campaign group. Make some noise about the library.
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