goblin cartoons

As I just found out from the Librarian in Black, there was a nice article on the changing role of libraries in the paper recently: Role changing for ?21st century library?.

Of course, some of the article’s observations of modern public libraries are a bit…behind the times.

City residents are using the libraries not just to check out books, but also to rent movies and music CDs, browse the Internet, read newspapers and magazines, attend meetings and author readings, take classes and bring their children in for weekly story times.

That’s hardly a new thing for public libraries, and the fact that the article makes it seem so noteworthy is positively quaint. But while the article may be lagging behind the rest of the pack in some respects…

?You still have more traditional folks that go to the library as a quiet place for contemplation and reading, but the 21st-century library is also about having a sense of community and common space,? The City?s Librarian Luis Herrera said.

What an important thing to note about public libraries! My coworkers and I talk about this all the time. Public libraries aren’t just storage spaces for old books, or even new-fangled places where you go to learn how to use personal computers, they’re important community centers. They’re not-for-profit nodes of connectivity, social intercourse and education.

I’ll take the quaint, as long as we keep ketting good press like this article.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 at 8:15 am and is filed under libraries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.