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Public Libraries - Do We Need Them?

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Divia
Bibliomaniac
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Always Cloudy, Central New York

Post by Divia » Thu October 8th, 2009, 9:59 am

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]Thank you Divia - I am even more impressed now at the amount of writing you have done this summer in addition to all of this.

What are the coloured dots for, to identify a certain type of book?[/quote]

teen boys have trouble finding fiction books. And while my many library classes told me never to single out books as gender specific I am because that ain't the real world.

I put the green dots on the stickers to let the boys know that in the fiction section these books may appeal to them. Thats not to say they are strictly guy books but the topics are geared towards boys.

I am also putting purple dots in the nonfiction section for the ladies because its harder for girls to pick out a nonfiction book that interests them. Guys dont have this problem with nonfiction.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
http://yabookmarks.blogspot.com/

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Felicia J
Scribbler
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Joined: October 2009
Location: Northern Colorado

Post by Felicia J » Thu October 8th, 2009, 5:46 pm

What a mean, small-minded little man. He'd probably be a nicer person if he read a book once in awhile. :p

This just makes me more determined to pay down my existing debt so I can go back to school in the next five years and get a library degree. Then I could stand up at meetings and put people like that Illinois man in his place!

Libraries are an essential cornerstone of civilization.

Chatterbox
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Posts: 1667
Joined: April 2009
Location: New York

Post by Chatterbox » Thu October 8th, 2009, 8:00 pm

Felicia, I agree that would be great. The problem that I see is that someone with that limited an imagination would just stare at you and say 'of course you think libraries are great; you're a librarian! It's in your self-interest to think so!' That is the attitude, and it really annoys me. Deeply and profoundly.

(non sequitur -- I have a friend in Boulder, Colo who is a librarian...)

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princess garnet
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Posts: 1797
Joined: August 2008
Location: Maryland

Post by princess garnet » Fri October 9th, 2009, 1:09 am

For me as a public librarian, during any given day, I do besides the reference desk:

shelve A-V materials (CDs, DVDs, and some audiobooks)
light shelving and tidy the book display areas
do the request list
collection maintenance
work the general information desk in the main lobby
sub in other subject divisions as needed
attend training classes
attend monthly staff meetings in our division
copier help
give directions around the library or the city
clean up books and materials on the tables or on the floor
place hold requests and/or call a branch for an item

I work at the main branch of the library system so there are support offices and staff responsible to keep the place going...
Last edited by princess garnet on Fri October 9th, 2009, 9:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Fri October 9th, 2009, 11:00 am

I must admit my local library, when I used it for a while for the internet before I got my own PC, is a bit of a soul-less place, and didn't seem to have too big a fiction selection; I was looking for "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin for a book group read and I know it's an oldie but they hardly had any of his work at all. However they do have internet connection, all the mags and papers available for people who want them, and the separate children's library has lots of stuff for kids, and they also have meeting room facilities, so it's kind of a community centre too. Admittedly it's not my area's main library - that's the central library in the town which is much bigger, and even has a small museum too. So yes they are an important part of any town (there's a lot of debate going on in the UK too re their future), and I think that, whilst they shouldn't forget that their main function is to provide books, there's no harm in diversifying (I hate that word) and, where possible, provide other facilities too.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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Volgadon
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Location: Israel
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Post by Volgadon » Fri October 9th, 2009, 5:35 pm

Goodness. If it weren't for the library, I wouldn't be able to be posting this now. I've moved to the states and have no computer as of yet. I'm also on a very tight budget, so without the library, where would my sanity be?
Libraries should be a priority for any government who cares about the future. Ignorance pulls people down. Literacy and knowledge pull people up. There is an old Soviet propoganda poster which reads knowledge breaks the bonds of slavery. It shows a pile of books weighing down on a chain.

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nona
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Joined: September 2008
Location: Oklahoma

Post by nona » Thu October 22nd, 2009, 1:57 pm

how hateful! Without libraries where would childern go to learn all sorts of things and what about all those papers you have to write in College, without a library? I for one could not afford books when I was younger so it would have changed a big part of my life had I not had a library. And also libraries a a big part of communites or at least here, our librar does alot of fund raising for local famles in need (no body else will) and they have great programms for tutoring.

No, I can't imagine this country without libraries. If the so called gentleman has a problem with them maybe he should stay away from them, there are more people who love libraries then a single man.

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ellenjane
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Post by ellenjane » Thu October 22nd, 2009, 2:57 pm

Public libraries are an essential component of the type of society that I want to live in. I would, however, like to live in a society without Mr. Xinos. He needs to be hit upside the head with the library binding of a Diana Gabaldon novel. That would really hurt. :p

It's interesting to see the day-to-day duties of the librarians here. I often think that if I had to make my educational decisions again, I'd go for a master's in library science rather than one in journalism.

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Julianne Douglas
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Location: Northern California

Post by Julianne Douglas » Thu October 22nd, 2009, 6:00 pm

I can't imagine living without libraries. Our local librarians know me and my family members by name--we go to the library 3-4 times A WEEK and on any given day have 35-50 books/movies checked out. For all the budget problems here in CA, I'm absolutely amazed at our "LINK+" system--a consortium of a hundred or so public and university libraries that share their holdings. For NO COST, I can request a book from a library in LA or Reno or Berkeley and have it waiting for me in my East Bay local library in about 3 days. There is no way I could conduct the research I do for my novels without the LINK+ books I request. Then there is always traditional interlibrary loan--just this week I received a 1904 biography of Madame d'Etampes from Dartmouth Colllege Library, all the way across the country, for only $16.

On a side note, my four and a half year old was absolutely thrilled to receive his very own library card the other night. When it's not stored in its very own special drawer in the coffee table, he carries it around like a crown jewel and tells anyone who will listen all about it. It makes me sad when I think of how many children never visit the library or know of the wonderful things they can find there. I was shocked to hear a nearby town ADVERTISING their library on the radio the other day, with a testimonial by a mother who, when she asked her daughter what she wanted to do on her day off, said "go to the library." The mother figured they'd stop in for a few minutes and get bored, but wound up spending hours there...the amazement in her voice was priceless! I was surprised on many accounts--that the library had to advertise in the first place, that the mom sounded like she hadn't been to a library in years, that people have to be told about all the wonderful things there are to do in libraries. And this is in a well-to-do, well-educated area, too.

I think if I had to choose another career, I would choose librarian. :) I certainly do miss the hours I used to be able to spend rummaging around in university libraries.
Julianne Douglas

Writing the Renaissance

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