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Brits are closing their libraries.

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

New Member
Britain Faces Closing The Book On Libraries

Our county libraries are facing closures also here in Los Angeles County.
I sent in a letter to my representative and our state governor.

It seems our library is still standing and have not cut their hours yet.

I hope the Brits keep their libraries. It would be ridiculous to close down libraries. But with advent of internet and e-readers, libraries will be affected at some point just like newspapers and journalists.
 
I hate to admit it but aside from book sales, I have not set foot in a library for years.
 
My public library now looks more like a DVD and CD library than a book library, and has for many years. The clientele for the books (and table space) seem to be mostly bright high-school students working their fingers and brains to the bone to get into competitive colleges.
 
"We all know a truth about libraries, which is those that will succeed are the ones when they wake up to the world of new technology, of the Internet and everything else, and investment goes in."
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"Of the Internet and everything else"? I'm deliberately going to say this in the voice of Chandler on Friends: "Could that sound any more 1993?"
 
I'd like to see a library that 'embraces' the Internet without changing fundamentally what they are and what we expect libraries to be.

I don't think people go to libraries nowadays for books anymore. Research? I had a published author pretty much admitting that he does research on Wikipedia nowadays. Scholars' or students' first port of call would probably be Google Books or Google Scholar.

Stock libraries with kick-ass librarians, and that shall be the differentiating factor.
 
direstraits said:
I'd like to see a library that 'embraces' the Internet without changing fundamentally what they are and what we expect libraries to be.

I don't think people go to libraries nowadays for books anymore. Research? I had a published author pretty much admitting that he does research on Wikipedia nowadays. Scholars' or students' first port of call would probably be Google Books or Google Scholar.

Stock libraries with kick-ass librarians, and that shall be the differentiating factor.
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Hi Dire :flowers:

Sounds good, and perhaps with borrowing books out onto an ereader?
 
direstraits said:
Stock libraries with kick-ass librarians, and that shall be the differentiating factor.
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That's pretty much what a lot of experts are saying these days. Used to be the librarian was a font of knowledge, then over the last 20-30 years they were pretty much devalued to handing out books. In a world where everyone has access to ALL information, what's sorely needed are ways to find the RIGHT information - and woah, here's an entire profession that's educated to do exactly that.
 
I have several librarian friends, three are from one family, and they tell me that librarians today are information gurus. Their job is to help patrons find whatever information they need. That might mean helping someone find the latest Stephanie Plum novel or guide them in filling out their tax forms online, or sending out hundreds of interlibrary loan requests for people like me. I know they're constantly doing battle with the folks who set their yearly budgets and dictate their hours of operation. I can't speak for two of the libraries, as they're too far away for me to visit, but my local librarians try to maintain a balance of current books, dvds, and music, while struggling to keep the computers in line and online. Oh, and since this IS small town USA, if you have a book to pick up, they call your house, and if you're not home and your kid tells them where you are, chances are good at least one of those dear ladies will track you down at the pool so you don't have to waste a trip back into town for the pick-up. It's not Mayberry, but it's close.
 
Hey, Peder! :)

Unfortunately I don't particularly 'get' e-borrowing. Not that I don't understand it, but don't think it's practical. One because it's open for abuse (what I save on my device I can make it stay there permanently, one way or another), and two because I don't really need to go to a library to 'e-borrow' a book. Since ebooks I can borrow will probably be listed on an online catalogue anyway, it may be that I can do so from the comfort of my own home.

The library as an physical institution needs to do a little more, I think. Perhaps move research labs or scholarly endeavours to libraries (effectively turning them into labs or offices), in addition to the library's original functions. Or make them like museums where specific workshops or themes or societal activities be organized that the public can partake in. Perhaps use the same way brick and mortar bookstores counter online bookstores - by employing smart, helpful staff who provide additional service not possible if you buy online.

If libraries are merely repositories for books, then they behave more like granaries (storage) than windmills (generating value). (blah, where the heck did that come from? :) )
 
Oops, looks like bg and abece have already made my point on employing good and intelligent staff while I was typing. :)

Just to be clear, when I say like museums, I don't mean turning books into artifacts you stare at behind glass partitions. I'm thinking the thematic workshop or 'tours' that is organized around a particular topic or area of interest. Like "The world of Ulysses by Joyce", "Shakespeare Through the Ages", "The Far Flung Future: Technologies and World Unimagined"; each with links to fiction or non-fiction works. Open to the public, much like a public art gallery viewing.

Something like that.
 
direstraits said:
Oops, looks like bg and abece have already made my point on employing good and intelligent staff while I was typing. :)

Just to be clear, when I say like museums, I don't mean turning books into artifacts you stare at behind glass partitions. I'm thinking the thematic workshop or 'tours' that is organized around a particular topic or area of interest. Like "The world of Ulysses by Joyce", "Shakespeare Through the Ages", "The Far Flung Future: Technologies and World Unimagined"; each with links to fiction or non-fiction works. Open to the public, much like a public art gallery viewing.

Something like that.
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That old cliche about librarians being so smart is based on cold, hard, facts. They aren't so smart just because 'they read all those books' but because they have to know how to help every single patron find whatever information they might possibly need. Used to be that meant knowing how to use those thick, dusty Books in Print tomes, while today that means knowing how to use the very latest technology at their fingertips. All the while dealing with the absolute ignorance of town council members who don't use the library and can't see why others need it either...'Why can't people just buy their books from Amazon?' It ain't for the faint of heart..


* And then there's always folks like my dear, late uncle. He couldn't understand why the public library couldn't simply merge with the school library. Save space and money! ACK!
 
direstraits said:
Hey, Peder! :)
Unfortunately I don't particularly 'get' e-borrowing.
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Dire,
You are right, of course. Old-fashioned ways of doing things will be completely replaced, and a new model will emerge for what a "library" is and does, together with new concepts and new termonology.

I'm just still glad to be able to buy tree-books in their waning days. ;)
 
The smaller libraries in town have closed down here many many years ago, I think it's a shame, they were much more kid-friendly than the big one in the centre is as it had separate places for children to browse picture books and suchlike.
As for me, I usually only go to university library when I need to find material for my essays, they have both digitized (from magazines) and book sources. I use both. The digitized magazine articles are easy as I can also get to them from the comfort of my own home. :)

I also still buy dead tree books, somehow the idea of an e-reader just doesn't appeal to me.
 
direstraits said:
Unfortunately I don't particularly 'get' e-borrowing. Not that I don't understand it, but don't think it's practical. One because it's open for abuse (what I save on my device I can make it stay there permanently, one way or another), and two because I don't really need to go to a library to 'e-borrow' a book. Since ebooks I can borrow will probably be listed on an online catalogue anyway, it may be that I can do so from the comfort of my own home.
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Yup, I've seen remarks on other forums by posters mentioning they keep the books borrowed. After all, local libraries are not Amazon, with the ability to snatch books from Kindles. :rolleyes:

Fantasy Moon said:
What a horrible thought! I have to visit my local library at least once a week, but usually end up visiting twice.
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Admittedly, I rarely use the library anymore. I will borrow books that I'm not sure about that I can't find at the local bookstores to see if I really want it. Trouble is, when I like it, I hate to give the book back, and libraries tend to be narrow minded in that respect, they want them back. :confused: :whistling: Soooo, I end up buying them anyhow.
 
Well, I started using it again this week. Not that I've ever been a big user of libraries except for school research...
 
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