3 ms·
I agree, in principle, but I think one of the issues is that it is increasingly common for library patrons to ignore the books and head for the computers. I don
by tjr 15y ago
I agree, in principle, but I think one of the issues is that it is increasingly common for library patrons to ignore the books and head for the computers. I don't have hard statistics on this, but if it's true, then I imagine it's hard for libraries (and the governments that support them) to justify pouring more resources into keeping the book collections robust, if too few of the people they are serving don't care about the books.
And even on the digital front, I fear that people are reading more blogs and tweets and fewer books. Even Kindles won't matter to people whose reading attention span is limited to a couple sentences at a time... :-(
(This, though, is a bit of speculation and anecdotal conjecture on my part. I would be interested in hearing if others have observed the same or not.)
- tommorris 15y agoSure, but it's an is-ought thing. More people may be using computers in a library than using books. More people prefer McDonald's to healthy eating doesn't mean health policy needs to follow preferences. The point of an institution is it is supposed to stand for something. A library exists because of the belief that literacy, knowledge, research, ideas and creativity are good things. That some people don't see them as good things doesn't mean they are right.
- lurker17 15y agoAre you saying that the computers are inferior to the books as a resource for "iteracy, knowledge, research, ideas and creativity"? Pound for pound, inch for inch, and dollar for dollar, the computers are better than the books.
- tommorris 15y agoNo, I'm saying that both are needed. Thinking that computers will solve all problems in libraries and can just be a drop in replacement for books is a bit like thinking that bicycles will solve all transportation problems. Computers and IT do improve literacy, knowledge, research, ideas and creativity. But in a huge number of specific cases, books are very much needed too, and will be for a long time to come.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]