Great piece. They are closing libraries at an alarming rate in my state, NC., turning our beloved downtown library into apartments with a smaller facility. To have grown up during the rise of education and see all this is tough. Alexandria in slo-mo.
As a former professional librarian (still working part-time in a private law firm library basically as an overqualified file clerk..), I can confirm the truly unfortunate erosion in library usage. "Everything is online!" is the rallying rationale for why this firm's library, which, at the beginning of this century, took up 2/3rds of an entire office-building floor, now fully sits in about 1/6th its former space with a single range of "compact shelving" units. I know University libraries are moving in a similar direction. Public libraries have had to become more like wide-ranging social service community centers, offering "maker spaces", meeting rooms, entertainment events, art displays, streaming services, public-access wifi, and -- oh yeah, books, magazines, cds, and dvds.
But yeah, I remember in my undergraduate days in the 80s, loving spending time in the huge main library at Kent State -- the awe-inspiring mystery of what all those thousands of items held, that I could potentially learn.. The Internet once held a similar-seeming potential. It's not any more awe-inspiring now than commercial television ever was.
My checked-out books get recalled by our public library, which recently enacted a "no fines" policy. So they charge me theoretical fines on second recall notice. Without a philosophy calculator, I'm unable to compute theoretical charges, so I return books. The 2012 book I've had for a year, "Thinking Fast and Slow", was just recalled, filling me with hope for our culture.
I work in an academic library. People are in here all the time. But most of them are not checking out books. They're meeting study buddies, using computers and printers, or getting citation and research support. Also, we don't do recalls either. But we also don't do automatic renewals. That's crazy.
Thanks for this piece. I'm feeling uncomfortable as it sets in. I just now remember also taking out albums from my library when I was a kid... Yes, reading the lyrics, liner notes and credits. Taught me to stick around at the "end" of the movie too. Sometimes it feels like a runaway train, but yet I feel it's worth trying to help it stop.
Not totally related: I was borrowing from the Middlesex public library system for a while (Cambridge and Somerville public libraries mostly). I was surprised at the "automatic renewal" of my borrowings, which I received in email notifications. They gave me one or two, I forget which. There are no longer "fines" for overdue books. At one point, however, I forgot about a book of poetry I had borrowed and, I guess, ignored the overdue notices. I was asked to pay a "replacement fee." I brought it back the next day.
Great piece. They are closing libraries at an alarming rate in my state, NC., turning our beloved downtown library into apartments with a smaller facility. To have grown up during the rise of education and see all this is tough. Alexandria in slo-mo.
This is so sad. Sobering. Strange.
As a former professional librarian (still working part-time in a private law firm library basically as an overqualified file clerk..), I can confirm the truly unfortunate erosion in library usage. "Everything is online!" is the rallying rationale for why this firm's library, which, at the beginning of this century, took up 2/3rds of an entire office-building floor, now fully sits in about 1/6th its former space with a single range of "compact shelving" units. I know University libraries are moving in a similar direction. Public libraries have had to become more like wide-ranging social service community centers, offering "maker spaces", meeting rooms, entertainment events, art displays, streaming services, public-access wifi, and -- oh yeah, books, magazines, cds, and dvds.
But yeah, I remember in my undergraduate days in the 80s, loving spending time in the huge main library at Kent State -- the awe-inspiring mystery of what all those thousands of items held, that I could potentially learn.. The Internet once held a similar-seeming potential. It's not any more awe-inspiring now than commercial television ever was.
My checked-out books get recalled by our public library, which recently enacted a "no fines" policy. So they charge me theoretical fines on second recall notice. Without a philosophy calculator, I'm unable to compute theoretical charges, so I return books. The 2012 book I've had for a year, "Thinking Fast and Slow", was just recalled, filling me with hope for our culture.
I work in an academic library. People are in here all the time. But most of them are not checking out books. They're meeting study buddies, using computers and printers, or getting citation and research support. Also, we don't do recalls either. But we also don't do automatic renewals. That's crazy.
Thanks for this piece. I'm feeling uncomfortable as it sets in. I just now remember also taking out albums from my library when I was a kid... Yes, reading the lyrics, liner notes and credits. Taught me to stick around at the "end" of the movie too. Sometimes it feels like a runaway train, but yet I feel it's worth trying to help it stop.
Not totally related: I was borrowing from the Middlesex public library system for a while (Cambridge and Somerville public libraries mostly). I was surprised at the "automatic renewal" of my borrowings, which I received in email notifications. They gave me one or two, I forget which. There are no longer "fines" for overdue books. At one point, however, I forgot about a book of poetry I had borrowed and, I guess, ignored the overdue notices. I was asked to pay a "replacement fee." I brought it back the next day.