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- When you take the TECHNOLOGY out the hands of the ... - jacob
- Well said sharonha. The fact is that the computer, ebooks ... - EdCarroll
- Hazelfern, I too believe that government should be held accountable ... - EdCarroll
After 35 years as a librarian in Hood River, June Knudson is out of a job. On July 1, all branches of the Hood River County public library system shut their doors after voters defeated a funding measure. A lifetime book lover who as a child found libraries "a wonderful way to enlarge my world," Knudson says that the library's role in her community went well beyond books. From storytime for toddlers to ESL classes for adults (as well as free Internet and community meeting spaces), the county's public libraries provided a host of resources not easily accessible elsewhere. With the building's closure, families, job seekers, and library patrons of all stripes are acutely feeling the loss of a community institution.
The scene in Troutdale, by contrast, is celebratory. On Monday, the city's new library opened to much fanfare, and residents flocked to the converted shopping center space to check out its well-stocked shelves and state-of-the-art technology. The head librarian, Bryan Fearn, hopes that in short order the library will become a bustling community center.
Multnomah County Commissioners are considering a ballot measure to create a special library tax district that would provide a more steady source of funding for libraries and enable more success stories like Troutdale.
What's the role of the public library in your community? How do you use your local library? Have you seen services or programs be cut?
Tagged as: economy · library · reading
Photo credit: Ozyman/Creative Commons / Creative Commons
COMMENTS: (70 total)
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Jacob,
Books are not less relevant. The circulation of books and other materials at the majority of public libraries is accelerating.
And the notion that everything is accessible simply because the Internet exists is a frustrating misconception. Just because something is out there in a digital format does not mean that the average user knows how to access it and then use it once they find it. They need librarians (or someone equally knowledgeable) to assist them. Some people are financially secure and tech-savvy enough that they can survive on their own, but they are not the majority, and never will be.
Librarians love books. Librarians love the Internet. Librarians love people. We will always need them because we will always need kind, knowledgeable guides as the world of information expands, diversifies, and grows more complex.
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Although I am a fan of free, city-wide WiFi access, I also appreciate that in order to use that service, one has to be able to afford the techno-gadgets that can access it.
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Jacob
Do you really believe that a wi-fi cafe has a 'smaller footprint' than a library? Where does all of this electricty come from? To be plugged in - literally or figureatively via wifi is not a without cost.
Mountains are lost, rivers are dammed, environments are changed for all of this at the moment information. The true cost of 27-7 information is unfathomable
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Interesting timing...this very topic was discussed on The Diane Rehm Show (originating from WAMU 88.5 in DC) on 28 June 2010.
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I like the idea of universal WiFi...of course, there will be some severe pushback from such stakeholders as ComCrap, USWorst, AT&T, etc.
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As for Google having every published work available for free on the Internet downloadable in seconds, I don't think this is quite accurate. They wanted to do this, but it triggered some serious backlash from copyright holders who wanted to protect their intellectual property. (I do, however, think it is an excellent idea.)
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Why are all wi-fi networks password and security protected? In some European cities, McDonald's and Starbucks, Internet access is as free as water. (Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, and McDonalds all provide free WiFi; B&N since last fall, McD's since mid-January, and Starbucks as of July 1.)
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What is it all for? Technology is superficial, in the sense that it is only a platform or a system on which to build, but technology in itself will never be enough. Technology, perhaps because of its relative newness, has become us, instead of technology being an aid to help us live better, it has been turned into a distraction, an entertainment. It is true, things are faster, the information is getting ever closer, but technology is like a kitchen-aid mixer---you don’t have to kneed the dough by hand anymore, but it is not going to improve your recipes. We haven’t replaced our libraries with something comparable, we haven’t bettered things, we have simply abandoned them. A book online, or an e-book is not a better book, really, it is actually, less of a book. In limited ways an e-book has different functions, but overall the function is decreased if one’s goal is to actually read it. An e-book is merely an imposture of the physical book, it is not an equal replacement.
You can’t replace a library with a virtual library, you can attempt to substitute it, but it will always result in an inferior taste. Having every book online may be better then having no books available to you at all---but, having every book online, is not better then having every physical book available to you in a building you can enter. These virtual books are a substitution, they are not the real things. And, what will replace the experience of the library itself? Its three dimensions? You may be able to buy the Chez Panisse cookbook, but is it the same as going to the restaurant if you only ever cook the dishes at home? A library might have an added worth in its own right as a human experience, that goes above the language content of its books. ...
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... Something always gets lost in the virtual world. Why? Because we don’t live in the virtual world, we will always be outside it. Technology never replaces things in the real world, it simply attempts to imitate them. We can see major artworks online, but is that the same as seeing the actual works? I can talk to you on the phone, but it is an inferior conversation to the one we can have in person. Where will our quest to replace everything get us? Particularly if we abandon all the originals. We have whittled down our world, not with better things, but with a monotonous artifice. We may end up with access to a virtual anything and everything, but one thing this will deny us, is an access to the originals. This is not a smart and savvy way of living, it is merely creating a world of second bests.
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Scott, I am probably more of a technological Luddite than you. I normally stand for Traditionalism and Voluntary Simplicity. But for the sake of sophism, let me take a stab.
In my back pocket, I have more knowledge at my fingertips than I ever did with desktops and walls of books. It is not simple information but finding the right piece of information at the right time to be able to shape and influence a decision. It is a SMART phone with a web brower.
We cannot deny progress and innovation. In the past tens years, we have come farther in information technology and knowledge retrival than in the previous 50 years largely thru the Internet.
Now with a ISDN line or even wireless wifi, any person with a computer can access millions of books, millions of articles, billions of pictures and a whole load of recipes. Every single recording in history since Edison invented the phonograph is available for immediate download. Every single significant painting or art photograph is available in a few clicks. Every movie since the invention of moving picture is available for down load in a few minutes. These are in the VIRTUAL WORLD.
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And lets say you are a fan of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. You can check out the 10 year old copy from Penguin books at your local libary.
OR you can download a copy from the internet in a minute. Let's say you have bad vision and like the Gothic font and the color mauve. You can upsize the font to 30 pt, make it Gothic Revival bold font, and have a mauve background to your page. You can have the eReader read out the pages with Johnny Depp or Morgan Freeman's voice. You can even join a chat group in Oxford, England or Oxford, Mississippi discussing this novel. Or form a group of Christian Scottish Scuba Divers who like discussing Pride and Prejudice over Guiness Beer. Or you can download a dozen movie versions of the novel and see which one is most faithful to the text. You can listen to a Radio Head song that was based on one of the characters and watch their interpetive video. And you can buy a costume for yourself of Mr Darcy that you can wear to the Pride and Prejudice Convention in Nagasaki in 2012.
Books are two dimensional. But what is transcedent is writing. And the media is relative unimportant but readers would at least like a choice.
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well said scottmil
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Jacob,
Yes, I am not sure what you are suggesting exactly, or are assuming about what I suggested? I am quite savvy with most aspects of modern technology, and in some ways people would say I excel at it, but it still bores me. And, my response is entirely because I ‘get technology,’ and see it for what it is, not something more. Internet technology doesn’t really change the fundamental conversation of life, it just tunes it to a different channel, people don’t entirely get smarter because of it, or at least not at a conceptual or symbolic level. Sure, it has positives, and I certainly make use of them, but I don’t worship it, or put all my eggs in its virtual basket. Technology in many ways is an agent of mediocrity. Perhaps, this leveling of the playing field that technology can achieve is useful, but on the other hand it can render itself useless. If we give everyone on the planet a laptop, great! But, what then? Americans all have laptops, and how well are we doing? If China frees up the Internet, fantastic! But, we still have to do the work of living and thinking, with or without technology. Technology is just another layered system that has no good in itself, it can certainly help us, but it won’t make us.
We see this paradigm clearly and simply, or at least I do, in movies. What does our ever increasing capacity for special effects often result in? The same bad movies. Because technology is only a tool, but we have begun to imagine that it is more then that, that it can do it all on its own. Perhaps, its newish complexity simply deceives us with layers of smoke and mirrors. So yes, it is great if everything is duplicated, and we have access to an online world, this online world does have its own relevant uses, and the virtual world can enhance the physical world, but it will never replace it. We have to make use of both worlds simultaneously! >>>
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<<<There is an irony in this, because the digitization of books was meant to make them accessible to people who often didn’t have access to the actual books because of economics, but now the same people that created this virtual alternative are not bothered by abandoning the real thing. Admittedly there are degrees of separation among these mediums. A book, or literature, is a minimal medium, that is generally more minimal then visual art. Less is lost between an e-book and an e-artwork. Because, writing is made from a literally defined symbolic language, that is easily duplicated, because, the words are universal symbols that have one interpretation. And, books are already duplicates of an original manuscript, and libraries contain an inventory of copies. And, copying them electronically is only one degree further. But, a hard-copy is a functional, static medium, it exists all at once, every word is there already in the physical realm---whereas an e-book is time-based. A book is not a blueprint for a building, it is the building.
P.S. I guess we could also build a screen large enough to display an entire book at once, or many screens in the same room all displaying the unabridged text of a book, but how useful would that be?
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Scott,
Never before in History has so much knowledge been available to so many fingertips. I can seek out any of 6 billion people and seek out and communicate with an expert or just an ordinary person in Botswana or Bangkok. And language is less of a barrier with real time translation programs. I can get blue prints and construction directions to the Atomic Bomb at Nagasaki or get 100,000 recipes for Paella or the Ultrasound Images of OctoMom.
And it is not because of a library; it is because of the Internet. But what do we do when we have this tool and technology? Mostly play games, update our Facebook and download pornography. But that is CHOICE and FREEDOM. But some ambitious genius will use it to advance Humankind and World Knowledge and improve life. --ie. Google, Amazon, eBay, My Space, Facebook, Twitter, Craig's List, Wikipedia.
Innovation is accelerating. Technology changes and adapts. And Change is the Only Constant. We cannot cling to McGuffey Readers when everyone else has iPads. And cellulose paper based books will eventually go obsolete, like wax cylinders, Dageurrotype glass photo plates, LP records and 8 Track tapes.
Note how the record industry is transformed. No one drives to the store to buy records. No one needs to buy the whole album just ot get one single song. And every song ever recorded can be downloaded in one minute. No paper or plastic wrap or plastic shopping bag waste. It is becoming true for movies. It will happen for books.
Information and Knowledge can be paperless electrons and still inform and educate and entertain. And trees would be spared. We have to be open to new media or we will not be part of the conversation.
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Jacob,
I have never said I wasn’t open to new media. In fact, I am incredibly open to the most radical forms of media, science and fashion, when they are useful to me and actually new. But you are putting quite a bit of emphasis on the medium or delivery itself rather then the content, this ends up cancelling out the point (although, perhaps in my own way, I did as well). I am not tied to the book (and library), because of sentimentality, I just think it is a good functional solution for the everyday task of reading---to me the Internet does not functionally meet this use, but is used to supplement it. Both the book and the e-book are not a good thing in themselves, they are merely superficial placeholders for content or ideas. Putting emphasis on either has little value, because they are nothing but containers, the real work goes on inside.
I am aware of the cutting edge of technologies and don’t shy away from them, but I try to keep them in perspective, and not give them unnecessary credit. Much of popular culture is an entertainment to keep the rats in the wheels, particularly some of those sites you mentioned as positives, which I find banal and unnecessary, and, also, I think their inventiveness is utterly overrated. It was hardly a big leap to the creation of any of those sites, their creators were persistent hard-workers, in the right place at the right time---and, most of their work is merely a grand copy of models from the physical world. I guess what I want to say about much of the technologies we are discussing is that they aren’t new products, rather they are new recipes to get the same results, yes, they have values in their own right, but those values are almost always overstated, and are generally simple improvements in efficiency and delivery. And we try to claim more meaning in them, then can be found. These same technologies we claim we can do good with, as you indirectly pointed out, can be used to do a heck of a lot of bad. I am not saying we should give them up because of this, or be wary of them, because of this, but we should use it to remind us of how superficial they really are. And that we need to search harder to find something else to define ourselves with.
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Well said sharonha. The fact is that the computer, ebooks and the Internet have only scratched the surface of access to information in the world and are not yet ready to replace books. Until that time, let us please pass this levy and continue to adequately fund our community libraries.
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When you take the TECHNOLOGY out the hands of the engineers and put it in the hands of the PEOPLE you HUMANIZE IT. More of the Internet is now in SOCIAL DEVLOPMENT enabling people to interact with each other: CONTENT. Computer programs do NOT write essays or counterpoints. WE CAN MAKE the NET worthwhile by the content we bring. OR we can make it trashy.
TECHNOLOGY IS A TOOL. It is a mass marketing campaign that can generate a billion solicitation emails. It can swindle, cajol or even elect a president. It is a Megaphone for a skewed point of view on a national level. Or a way to entertain millions half way around the planet. We use tools for good or evil.
Interestingly when the NET is liberated it becomes populated by the seedy lowest common denominator. Men seek pornography. Women seek dirty gossip and schuedenfreude. Humans are vain, narciscisstic, selfish, self promoting, hedonistic but also knowledge seeking, curious, creative, and generous. The Net is human and that is what makes it exciting.
It isn't the Technology. It is the Human Content that eventually becomes Compelling ....or Greasy.
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Vancouver has a really good library system, with a new main library being built downtown. This is being paid for by a special levy approved by voters in a special district. A couple of years ago a special district in the Salmon Creek area approved a levy for construction of the Three Creeks branch. Vancouver and other towns as far east as Goldendale have very good coverage through the library system.
The Ft. Vancouver Regional Library is well run and has a pretty good online index and research tool for patrons. It is an excellent community asset and one that is supported by voters.
The most-missed feature lost to budget cutbacks recently was the delivery-by-mail system that allowed a patron to check out books online and have them mailed to the patron's home. Now that is only available to people who cannot travel to a library branch.
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So, when did it become an obligation of the government to provide free Internet access? I see at the Bend library 50 or 60 people at a time logged in, mostly doing personal entertainment, not research. This consumes space, lots of power, and the time of librarians sorting out connection and even 'how to use a computer' issues. In Eugene, users are charged for Internet usage. If libraries are so broke, maybe they should think about their Internet access policies. When you can buy a used computer for $100 and Internet access costs less than $10 a month, virually anyone can afford their own access. We need to re-consider what we expect from our government.
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Internet access costs less than $10 a month? Really?!?!? From whom? NetZero, who offers Dial-up for $9.95? That's a joke, as so many websites will not even load in a day without a bradband connection...forget about applying online for a job!
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I was raised in a town in which the library was a single room. A nearby town had a larger library, but its collections of books I was interested in was conservative and limited. Even so, we visited weekly, checking out armfuls of books at a time. Today, my three children and I regularly do the same here in Portland.
Libraries are treasure houses, every book cover opening a door on possibility. I never for one minute take for granted the incredible gift of the Multnomah County Library System, but especially the downtown branch of the library. The magic of finding the book you didn't know you needed to read next to the book you were looking for can change everything.
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Our library is very important to our family. I can't imagine what we would do without it. Our kids look forward to our weekly trips to the library and they are never ready to leave when it is time to go home. Our library offers free wi-fi, free use of computers, books and movies online, an endless supply of books and movies available to check out, bi-lingual story time, story time with puppets, a summer reading program for kids, friendly and helpful librarians, a book discussion group, a teenage volunteer program, and lots more.
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My father is a librarian and I have grown up with books my entire life. I have fond memories of attending story hours at the public library when I was a child, and can't imagine a world without libraries or books. I recently heard that Stanford University is closing one of it's libraries and that made me angry. I prefer to read a book than something online. The two do not compare.
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I believe that the story said that the Stanford Engineering School is putting most of its' 80,000 books online and keepng only some 10,000 physically on the shelves, they're not closing it.
But I agee with your point.
That great Native American writer Sherman Alexie talked about the physical experience of reading a book, the feel, smell, everything about a book that is part of the reading experience.
I don't know how many times I have fallen asleep late at night with the book open and laying on my face, because I could not bear to close the book and stop reading. Wonderful!
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I'll add to Tom's comments. With a little searching, I was able to find out that Stanford is transitioning one of its many libraries, the Physics, Computer Science and Engineering library into an online center. The Stanford University Library System contains over 25,000,000 books, so replacing 80,000 is a small drop in the bucket. And think about what they are doing for a minute. We are not talking children's books or liesure reading during the commute. Phy, CS and Eng text are used for college student research. These topics are changing every day and text in these subjects become outdated very quickly. Going electronic makes perfect sense in this case.
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I use our local McMinnville library constantly. Because I'm a county resident and don't live in city limits, I have to pay $60 a year for my card, but it's worth it. I use the library website to look up books I want to read, and then I request them through the Chemeketa system. Once they've arrived at the Mac library, I can just stop by and pick up my books. I check out hundreds of books this way each year and feel so grateful that I have access to a wide selection of books as a rural resident. I do, however, wish that Yamhill County residents could get a card without paying -- I know that it keeps many people from appreciating the benefits. But, in this day and age I'm just happy that our library is open!
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I live in wa and work in or. To keep from going nuts in the commute, I listen to books I get from the library - two or three a week.
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Great discussion, thanks TOL!
I used the library to save thousands in grad school (mlis) book expenses by checking them out rather than buying them!
Libraries have changing roles and purposes, but they are still critical to the democratic dissemination of info. Information is power and we have to make sure everyone has access, no matter what format it is in. Libraries do not judge how people use the library, that is the beauty of it, people are free to think for themselves. Plus we are often digitally isolated and the library provides community.
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The public library is hugely important, and an underutilized resource, in any community. Done correctly, libraries can promote lifelong learning, be a valuable community center, and keep access to books available to all.
For me, I can't even begin to count the number of books I have been able to read because of the library. I would never be able to afford to purchase that many on my own. My children have been able to explore their interests, which they otherwise would not. I would never be able to buy the 20+ books just on space that my 6 year old has been able to learn from.
Children need approximately 1000 hours of reading before starting school for the greatest success. Libraries are an easy way for families of all backgrounds to have access to enough books to accomplish this, plus the storytimes! What better way to teach our children the value of reading, lifelong reading?
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Our small town library has become a daycare center. Parents have learned that they can send their children to the library all day for free where they will be supervised and entertained. The librarians are constantly chasing these children and trying to get them to behave and be quite. Even though I believe libraries are a valuable resource I can understand a small town's unwillingness to fund such services.
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The Hood River library closing is tragic. We are in the Washington County system and it is fabulous.
I have two girls(4 and 7) and I depend on the library every week. We take a trip at least once or twice a week to check out a grocery bag full of books.
I could never keep up financially with the amount of books they read, the movies they watch or the cd's we listen to.
The online reservation system makes it so easy to get what ever you need or want. I rarely browse anymore actually. I get a tip on a book for the girls, go online, reserve it and wait for an email to go get it. It's great. For Free.
I would be lost without the libary system. So very grateful we have access to such a great library system. -
When I was a kid my sister and I would ride our bikes to the Hollywood library every week of summer break. We would come to get the next prize in our summer reading challenge and we would pick up new books, and movies to entertain us that next week. There was something so exciting about exploring the shelves for something new or picking up a long waited hold. I don't know how we would have survived the summer without our library.
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In our library in Eugene, I often use the databases that the library subscribes to, which I could not afford to do independantly, such as Ancestry.com, heritage, consumer reports and multiple other newspapers and magazines. Some of these are available at home with my library number, but some have to be accessed on site at the library. They are invaluable!
Plus, reference librarians are extremely knowledgable and can help you problem solve all sorts of issue. Knowledge is power, and information is expanding all the time. It's good to have a way to access it efficiently, instead of just googling everything and expecting that to turn up comprehensive and reliable results.
I would be very depressed if our library closed. I'm out of the city, so our household pays $100 per year in order for this great service.
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As a college student, my excessive tuition goes to the extensive library services I am fortunate to use every day to research and write papers. What is particularly helpful is how well books and articles are catalogued online. I can type in search words and in minutes, a list is generated of everything I could possibly need.
I think this type of system makes the library particularly accessible to someone my age, who has grown up with the internet. Regardless of whether or not everything is "going to be online anyways" the more we can strengthen the connection between the internet and physical books instead of isolating them will deterimine the way we acquire and retain information.In the summertime, I use the library in my hometown to check out books and CDs that I never have time to enjoy during the school year. I think that without the mere knowledge of a library being there, I would go crazy. If none of my other career options work out, I plan to go to library school.
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The fact that some people think libraries still use "card catalogues" shows that they haven't used a library in the last 10 years. Yes, I agree, many services are now online, including the library catalog and many other library services. You can use your library card to download e-books and audio books online for free. These are NOT available freely online. They are subscription services the library pays for on your behalf. Sure, if you are a fan of Austin or any other author that is out of copyright, you can probably find it online. But if you want to read something a bit more modern (published within the last 70 years, which is still under copyright) you need a library card to get it for free. I'm not sure why the myth that everything is available online persists. It's simply not true.
Yes, many library patrons are using the computers for leisure purposes. They are using books for the same reason! Why should we discriminate? Libraries fill a digital divide that is growing between privileged people who can afford a computer & internet connection, and those who can't. They are helping people apply for jobs, promoting literacy, and helping people keep their sanity during trying times through leisure reading, DVDs, etc. Libraries are community centers extraordinaire, providing myriad services and resources. The need for them now is greater than ever.
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Libraries are an important part of our society for too many reasons to write out here. They offer accessibility, community building, cultural literacy, exposure, learning development....... they are so vital!
I am shocked that Hood River had to close their libraries, that the commissioners allowed that. I can see not expanding, but closing altogether is a disservice to the citizens, the public servants operating them, and philistine!
I really enjoy our library system here in Portland and use it a lot, both as a parent and for myself as an adult. When I looked at my property taxes a few years ago and saw that I paid $150 a year for the library, I realized I should be using that for movies and books and activities that I otherwise spend elsewhere.
I have sweet memories of going to the library as a girl, and my kids will too.
And books will always be very relevant.
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The Tillamook County Main Library is wonderful - new in 2006, it was mainly funded through grants procured by the head librarian, Sara Charlton. Aside from the usual library services (the books, computers, magazines, newspaper archives with microficher going back dozens of decades for the Headlight Herald), there is a wonderful Children's Library area, with cozy seating areas to curl up with a book from that section, or they can play games on their computers, meeting rooms used for free by the public. Meetings cover everything from townhalls by federal level senators to the local 106 year old Shakespeare Club, a summer speaker series (last speaker author Philip Margolin), Monday night movies; there is a used bookstore. There is a display case for local residents to showcase treasures. There is a bookmobile going to outlying areas. It is a warm and welcoming builidng with staff to match. It is also heavily utilized by the county residents. It will carry us well into the future. The former building housing the library was a car dealership, so the new one is especially appreciated. And no, I do not work for the library.
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The closure of the Hood River County library system is nothing short of heartbreaking. I still remember practicing writing my name as a little kid so that I could sign it to my first library card.
I'm now a novelist, and I still go to the library whenever I'm stuck looking for references and I'll never be as good as a trained research librarian. Not to mention all those books out there that aren't available electronically that I cannot afford to buy. In the internet age in which limitless information is totally unfiltered we need libraries to help us make sense of it all. -
Public libraries and school libraries are all hurting for funds. As an administrator at The International School in Portland, I see every day how much our school library is important not only for children to check out books in English and the languages they are learning, but also as a resource for teachers. Teachers work with the librarian constantly to plan lessons and to get materials for their classes. Many school libraries and public libraries do work together to some extent, but especially in this time of budget shortfalls, it would be great to see them leverage each others' strengths for their communities.
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I have always felt a deep reverence for libraries --they feel like churches of learning to me. I am part of the OSU community and currently have access to the Valley Library in Corvallis and all of its satellite locations and ILL services. I absolutely can't imagine my life (or indeed, my job) without the library. I also appreciate the services that the library provides to the public, including computer and internet access for those who don't have those conveniences at home.
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Isaac Asimov wrote, "When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself."
Public libraries and public school libraries serve the common good. Internet access extends only as far as the corporation that owns it.
Decades of research and centuries of experience tell us that the easiest, most efficient and most pleasant way of improving reading ability, as well as writing, spelling, grammar, and vocabulary, is through extensive, self-selected reading.
Study after study shows that those with more access to books read more, and those who read more read better, write better, spell better, have larger vocabularies, better grammar and know more, not just about school subjects but about "practical knowledge" as well.
Studies also show that children get a significant percentage of their reading material from libraries, and that better public libraries, better school libraries, and the presence of a credentialed school librarian are related to higher reading achievement.
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It is difficult to think that Multnomah County will pass yet another bond to fund libraries particularly at this time. I do not think that voters will forget that the tax base voted in previously to build specific branches, ended up being used to install granite counters, build a NW branch that had not been planned, etc.
In addition, there are many folks who do not see the expansion of library services to include a plethora of book baby classes, crafts, etc as the best use of money during a time of dwindling resources.
For many people, the social aspect has simply gone a step too far despite how many folks applaud it.
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While I believe that we need to careful when spending taxpayer's money and I can't speak to your point about granite counters, I very much disagree that library services are not a wonderful use of money.
Don't we want to live and work in an amazing community? One that values children, the elderly, learning, and building community relationships?
Providing storytime to children, book babies groups, community classes on any a variety of topics, summer reading programs, etc. are a fantastic way to create and encourage community development. Reaching out to people that are otherwise marginalized only increases the value of the community. Property values go up with better community, education levels go up, and your neighborhood becomes a better place to live.
We live in a social society. The more we put into it, the more we get out of it.
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Hazelfern, I too believe that government should be held accountable for how they spend tax payer's money. That is precisely why I am in favor of this levy. Your statement indicates that perhaps you misunderstand that this is not an additional or incremental tax. This levy will replace the previous expiring levy. As another writer mentioned earlier, library spending provides a 500% return on your small tax investment back to the community, and as brenna points out, increases education levels. Increased education levels means that members of our community are better prepared for better jobs, again improving our community. Notice the number of statements about how members of our community depend upon the library to help them through these hard times. You talk about dwindling resources, well the library is a major community resource that we cannot allow to dwindle. Continuing library funding is good for our community and a good use of tax payer money, especially during hard times.
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I am just so sad over the closing of our libraries. We use our library all the time. I am a mother of a toddler who loves going to the library. I could never afford to buy all the books my daughter and I read. It is so nice to be able to get books for free and it has helped foster a love of books with my daughter.
I would gladly pay a property tax that would fund the libraries for everyone to use. Our library in Corvallis just adjusted thier hours including closing on Sunday. We have felt that impact I can't imagine not having a library at all.
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Recent stats show that there has been an increase in library usage nationwide during the recession. The simple fact is that in times of economic stress, libraries are needed more than ever. To close them during economic downtimes is being "penny-wise and pound-foolish".
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Libraries are the center of community empowerment and are critical to our democracy. Without libraries, we would continue to see a widening of education and economic disparities. I believe we have a moral obligation to provide a strong public library infrastructure.
However, even if you do not believe in collective social responsibility and are a “hard nosed economic realist” it is critical to realize that public libraries drive economic development. A simple Internet search of public libraries and return on investment or economic impact will yield dozens of studies demonstrating a 4 or 500% return on investments in public libraries. For example here is one fairly recent and comprehensive study: “ Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development: http://www.scls.info/building/making_cities_stronger.pdf
So whether you are the stereotypical bleeding heart liberal or conservative libertarian the social and economic values of strong public libraries are common ground.
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Well said!
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The caller who just commented about eBooks has apparently NOT been to BN.com (Barnes & Noble's website) lately. They do sell eBooks, and they ARE lendable, once downloaded to one's eReader, whether a Nook, iPad, netbook running their proprietary eReader application, or other device.
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Clackamas needs WiFi
I can't understand why, with my property taxes paying for over $130 toward library support, there is no wifi in the Clackamas system. Instead, I need to wait my turn for a shared workstation when I would much rather bring my laptop and allowing others to not wait as long for a shared workstation.
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Not true Shields!
If you go to the Clackamas Co. Library's website (www.lincc.org) and click on 'Library Hours and Locations' on the right hand side, you will find that, of the 13 libraries in the system, only 3 do NOT have free Wi-Fi (2 of which are very tiny indeed). Both of the Clackamas locations do.
If you're having trouble connecting, library employees will be happy to assist you. If the library doesn't have Wi-fi, talk to the Library Director. They work for you.
--Clackamas Co. Library Employee
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Hi,
I am just getting ready to visit the FVRL bookmobile that visits our community once a week. I can order books, tapes, dvds and borrow books from other libraries. For residents that live many miles from the city and want access to libraries I am very grateful for our rural library district that contract with a very large library district!
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A QUESTION FOR THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY DIRECTOR:
Does the Multnomah County Library (or the Friends of the Multnomah County Library) system have an endowment, which could be used as a rainy day fund? If so, how is it funded? If not, has there been any movement towards creating one?
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I live in the FVRL district but work in Hood River. I'm one of those folks who never dreamed their measure would fail. For me, the library is Disneyland, church, and school all rolled into one. When I first moved here, I was thrilled to learn they would mail me books to my rural farm! Hood River's story has spurred me on to work for the FVRL August measure.
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This is the worst news about libray's cuting back or having to shut their doors. What should happen is for every libray that must shut their doors we need to SHUT 100 CHURCH DOORS ! Here is Corvallis they closed on Sundays. What are us GODLESS people to do ? Remember church's pay no property taxes.
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My father is a bookbinder and my mother often complains that she is drowning in books. So she uses the library (in my hometown) almost exclusively. At the end of the year she calculates what she would have spent buying the books she read, then donates a percentage of that money to the library. I think that's a great way to give the library extra support if you are able.
She convinced me to start using the library here seven or eight years ago. Now we have two children and use the library quite a bit. I have a weakness for buying kid's books so the ones that we check out and love I often end up buying. I appreciate this "try before you buy" aspect of the library.
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RESEARCH ON MASTER THESIS:
Much of your discussion has been about services for families. I would like to add that the Multnomah County Library is a terrific research library.
I recently completed my MFA. I would like to applaud the John Wilson Special Collections at the Multnomah County Library. Their collection of artists' books was invaluable to me and greatly aided my research, I was able to view rare books that were not available elsewhere.
Kudos to the great library team and especially to Special Collections Librarian, Jim Carmin.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Zornado
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Anyone who has done serious research [including public school students] will have been shown these subscription databases by a reference librarian. Multnomah County spends thousands of dollars each year to provide access [most from home, too!] to these high quality databases of reports and articles WHICH CANNOT BE FOUND ON THE OPEN INTERNET.
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June Knudsen is a long time colleague and friend. For my entire 28 year career she has been a model and a mentor for me. She has influenced the quality of library service across the state and improved the quality of life for thousands of Oregonians. And as far as I’m concerned, she’s not done yet. Thanks June.
Ultimately libraries are all about community literacy, and literacy is all about reading and reading is how….
We avoid having an illiterate and unskilled workforce incapable of improving their lives, however motivated they are.
How we avoid having an electorate incapable of informing themselves about the issues.
How we avoid having to build more and larger prisons to house those who have no education and no options.
Literacy….Reading
Is how individuals and communities understand what is going on around them.
Are how individuals and communities influence their own and their community’s life for the better.
None of us would be in the position we are in today had not someone, some community, some government, seen to it that libraries and schools were funded to help us become successful in reading, in learning, in life.
Rob Everett, Librarian
Springfield Public Library
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The painful thing I see at my rural library is fines. Folks run them up and because of hard times, can't pay, so stay away form the library in droves. It is sad. And the library does its best, holding food drives where cans of food can cancel past fines. But poverty keeps people away.
As far as rural folks voting against the library, in my county, I have to pay $60 a year to check out more than one item at a time. When you pay large amounts of tax, sometimes more than the "city" folks, this sticks in the craw a bit. Still, I've paid the $60, but I'm a rare case.
Then there is the "conservative" groups that see libraries as all things evil. They are sure anti library here. Too much "evolution" or childrens books with wiitches in them for local tastes. I know don't believe that way, but one has to see through the "anti" folk's eyes.
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"The painful thing I see at my rural library is fines. Folks run them up and because of hard times, can't pay, so stay away form the library in droves."
-- This I just don't understand. Isn't the solution well within the destiny of the borrower -i.e. return or renew the checked-out items in a timely manner, thus incurring no fine?
Poverty by library fines seems self-induced.
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"Poverty by library fines seems self-induced."
Well, yes and no. Poverty limits. It can make it harder to get back to a library to return items, either because of difficulty in getting around or because of crises that crop up more frequently. If one has to choose between spending all day figuring out how to feed oneself and/or one's children or how to keep the lights or heat turned on, etc, etc, or returning library materials, what would a reasonable person choose? And the situation for children, who are even more at the mercy of circumstance, can be even harder. As a child, I felt lucky when I could get to a library and often didn't know when I would be back. And sometimes my parents had to move suddenly. I once returned a book 3 years late because of just such a move. Others were of course lost. Most of the time, thankfully, library staff were sympathetic and waived or reduced charges. But library staff often have a hard time balancing their main mission of providing access to materials with another important mission - of preserving those materials. Being mindful of people's circumstances is important in balancing the two.
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I think the library is one of the most important pieces of the community. Having a physical space where people can go to learn, interact, and be active members of the community is vital. In addition, I don't think that books are becoming irrelevant. I am a young woman who is part of the digital generation, but would never choose an e-book over a real one. I don't prefer to engage in learning online and I value the personal interactions that I gain from going to libraries. I hope Hood River's libraries are restored quickly!
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I use the library constantly. I ride public transit and read while commuting, so I go through books fast. I could never afford to buy everything I read. Also, I am middle income, but I still can't afford to buy a Kindle or an iphone or a laptop computer; there are many with fewer resources than me, and the library is an essential access for us.
I think a community that does not value its libraries has only poverty and despair in its future.
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I grew up in difficult circumstances, and would have been lost as a child and young adult without public schools and public libraries. I had great teachers through the years to whom I feel much love and gratitude, but my feelings toward libraries are different. It is to the existence and the idea of public libraries that I feel a great debt. And to those Americans a century or more ago who knew how necessary libraries are to our nation. Libraries are all about freedom. No-one made me go to them when I was young; in fact, sometimes it was a struggle for me to get to them. But they and all of their many resources and their helpful and knowledgeable staff were available to open worlds of ideas and information to me whenever and however I chose. It would be impossible, I think, to calculate the value of libraries to individuals like myself who - searched for, still seek and will in the future struggle to find - a way out of poverty or other forms of oppression, and discover it at -- Yes! A Library!
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I am currently a member of the library board in Tigard, but I am submitting this comment as a private individual. I was disheartened to hear a number of callers to your show expressing the sentiment that they use the library all the time because they can check out books and movies, or access the internet, for FREE. Libraries are not free. The widespread perception that they are, means that the funding of public libraries, especially through voter initiative, must always overcome the the contradiction that these perceived FREE services cost as much as they do.
Yesterday I spent the entire day downtown and periodically I wanted to check my email using my iPod touch. I stopped into the main branch of Multnomah County Library to use their public wifi connection. Later I was sitting at a Starbucks and decided to see if they offered wifi. They did, and it was "FREE." You see, this is where our problems begin with the notion of free. I paid for my wifi access at Starbucks when I bought my drink there. The fact that Starbucks is able to offer wifi access out of the profit they make on each sale makes this service appear to be free, but its cost was merely hidden. If, in the future, Starbucks increases their drink prices so that they may continue to offer wifi service in their coffee shops, we as consumers, may not understand or appreciate that these higher drink prices are funding this service. Yet we rarely complain. We rarely get outraged that coffee shop profits are funding services that we, as individuals, may not be using. The dozen or so other Starbucks customers who bought items while I was accessing my email via the Starbucks wifi gateway never complained that they were funding my ability to get my email.
I know it is a small point, and I have spent perhaps too long dwelling on it, but when library funding is brought before voters for their approval, it is good to remember that the valuable services provided by libraries are not FREE, they have to be paid for or they disappear. If these public services vanish, if public libraries are not funded, as they were not in Hood River, people will still be able to buy books, to download movies, to access wifi at their local Starbucks or Barnes and Noble bookseller, but their cost, individually, and the cost to society as a whole, will be much higher.
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I grew up in Hood River and the library was one of my family's favorite places. My grandmother read stacks of books checked out from HR's library in a week, returned them, and got another stack. I checked out books on everything I was even slightly interested in. I read about star constellations and where to find them; about Henry VIII and his 6 wives. I even checked out books on German, of which all I can remember now is apfel (apple). Certainly the internet has become a big part of the way people get their reading materials, but there is something romantic about cracking open a book with that signature library book smell. And not everyone has access to computers and the internet, especially in small more rural towns as Hood River felt, and somewhat was, when I was growing up. The library offers a relatively compact way of taking knowledge and adventure with you when you're heading back to a far out farm, hunting, or camping. And sorry folks, but I don't think a kindle will last on a wet hunting/camping trip in Oregon. The pages may stick together but at least it won't short out or void the warranty. I'm incredibly sad and dismayed that my home library has closed. I wish it were still open for the kids like me who want to learn about everything, but couldn't afford a computer at home.
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One reason the Library lost it's funding is that it was funded through property tax. My share of the tax was $170 a year. I can buy all the books I read in a year for less than that! It's no longer an economical deal for me to pay for a library. Besides, I can buy or download e-books for a lot less money and trouble and carry 350 books in one small reader. I can do all my research for any term paper or report by using the internet, I don't need the library for that, either. I'm sorry to see the old institution go, but it's day is over.
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It seems books are becoming less relevant. Books, stacks and card catalogues are being ignored; but the computer center seems crowded with waiting lines from opening to closing with a lot of non-working adults surfing the internet, gaming, facebooking and downloading pornography. They seem addicted, somber, quiet and zombie-like --the Soma of Our Times.
Is it possible to build less book libraries and more free internet centers with terminals, wifi and basic printing? These would probably cost a fraction of a standard library, have a smaller footprint and a tiny skeletal staff AND be in more demand. Call them Computer or Technology Centers.
OR better yet, eliminate the building, staff and upkeep and just give the community, Free, City-Wide WiFi.
Why are all wi-fi networks password and security protected? In some European cities, McDonald's and Starbucks, Internet access is as free as water.
Can we have free wi-fi city wide in Portland? Yes. Technology is here today. Just saving on security and access limitations can double coverage size.
Who doesn't want this service? The Cable, Satellite, Cell Phone and Internet Subscription Service.
In 10-20 years, we will have FREE 24/7 Data WiFi Services Nation Wide. People would think of it as a Human Right, just like the right to clean air and water. If We Demand it, Technology, Government, and Private-Public Partnerships Will Make It Happen. How many Geosynchoronous Satellites would blanket the lower 48 states with 24-7 coverage? 2-3
Our Library will be in the Ether: Google has every published work available for free on the Internet downloadable in seconds. In a few years it will exceed the volumes in the Library of Congress.
And our library will be on a hilltop, on Mt Hood and on the Columbia River as well as in our own homes. It will not be limited by geography, business hours, or holidays. IT may save more money than running an archaic library system with limited hours, expensive staffing and security issues(ie. lost or unreturned library books).