[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       publib
Subject:    The Role of Public Libraries
From:       kschneid () umich ! edu (Karen G !  Schneider)
Date:       1995-11-30 22:51:04
Message-ID: Pine.3.89.9511302200.P26863-0100000 () nysernet ! org
[Download RAW message or body]


Sender: kschneid@umich.edu (Karen G. Schneider)

>provide public library service. The work we do is of the utmost
>importance and is as fundamental as "life a death".  Inadequate library
>service is definitely a very serious form of injustice.  Knowledge is power.
>Access to information is essential to the acquisition of knowledge.  We must
>do all we can to empower our patrons and use every dollar at our disposal to
>enhance service.

Good words, James!  Additionally, libraries should be focusing on user
needs, not on their systems.  I have said elsewhere that there are
book-librarians and people-librarians.  People librarians may not be
techies, but they believe in connecting people to what they need, and
aren't too concerned with the nature of the medium as long as it is
suitable, affordable and manageable.  Access is everything.

One big role libraries have played for a century is literacy.  New
Americans at the turn of the last century were able to get literacy
training at the public library because librarians saw that failure to read
English was a big obstacle to adapting to life in our culture.  Well, at
this fin de siecle we see a huge population of information poor who need
access to the tools that can improve their lives--they need information
literacy, and this decade that means computing in a networked environment.
There are many areas in the U.S. (other than Upper Montclair, a well-off
area)  where there were no copy machines, Kinko's, computer labs, etc.--not
within driving distance let alone walking distance. The public library may
be the ONLY place folks can learn about computers, use them to improve
their lives and share their knowledge with others.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Karen G. Schneider * kschneid@umich.edu *http://www.sils.umich.edu/~kschneid
Cybrarian * PhD Student, UM SILS * Columnist, American Libraries
Forthcoming: The Internet Access Cookbook (e-mail Neal-Schuman@icm.com)
Opinions mine alone.



[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]