National Library Week is the perfect time to reflect on the value of public libraries and the challenges they face. Between 2000 and 2009, the U.S. population increased by 11.7% but the number of public libraries increased by just 1.7%. Goverment budget cuts continue to put a strain on resources, resulting in staff cuts, lower materials acquisition budgets and shorter opening hours. But 91% of Americans in a recent Pew survey said that libraies are important to their communities.
To learn more about the state of public libraries, check out the infographic below, courtesy of City Town Info.
Courtesy of: CityTownInfo.com
I still enjoy libraries. Yes I am a Kindle fanatic and I love to shop for books online, but that can be limited sometimes. When my computer is down, or I need a free book to read the first place I go is the library. The library is not just some building full of books, but it is the atmosphere. One can only study in their homes for so long until they need a nice quiet setting like a library nothing can beat that. Even the coffee shops or book stores do not have the still quietness or peace like a library. Some libraries or just well, so darn beautiful. I just cannot see them disappearing off of the face of the earth. As technology changes libraries will have to also change. I believe people can still have love for the ole bricks and mortar book collector. Maybe they will have to become 24/7, have a place to eat, there is so many ways to enhance a library. The library in my hometown has already cut back hours and let employees go. I hope we save our library's. My prediction is that libraries will become more hip, cool, and more technological to fit the growing trends around us. Libraries or not going away they just have to be reinvented. They will not only be saved but will be re-transformed into a bigger and better institution for the educated and those who want to learn.
Antuan Simmons Creator of www.poetantuan.com
Posted by: Antuan Simmons | April 15, 2013 at 06:20 PM