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Gen Y Hits the Library the Most -- But Not For Books
Lucas123 writes "More than half of all Americans visited a library this past year and, of those, most were from Generation Y, the tech-loving young adults aged 18-30 years, according to a recent survey. The reason most cited for visiting their local public archive? Not books. Most were seeking gaming software programs, characters in the Second Life virtual world and online help with homework."
Another way to think about the results: about 47 percent of Americans didn't visit a library even once last year.
Another way to think about the results: about 47 percent of Americans didn't visit a library even once last year.
Finding an attractive girl with a brain in her head was always a top reason for visiting the library.
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I didn't visit the library one single time in 2007.. and the same goes for 2006. Hell I haven't stepped foot in a library since college.
I guess I'm a knuckle dragging idiot. Or, I use a much easier resource (the Internet) for my research. I buy books instead of borrowing them. So ya, I'm not terribly surprised that there are a bunch of other Americans just like me.
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What is this "library" you speak of?
...and I'm currently connected to it.
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Be yourself no matter what they say
And not just for research, but the internet has also made it much easier to get books physically to you. I used to go to the library a lot as a kid because it was just as easy as going to a bookstore. But now I can get books from Amazon, or cheaper from eBay, or cheaper still from places like Baen, and a library is not as useful to many people...
I think they have done a good job adapting to the times. One of the things I still like libraries for is browsing through a rather large set of magazines, or of course books that normal people would not be able to afford like giant atlases.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I visited the Library at least once a week, ONLY for books. I browse every new book in the new section, hit up the SciFi section, see if there is a new romance book that suits my needs. I'll be there for about an hour, and sometimes I'll head over to Bookmans for a used book afterwards if I can't find what I want. If I'm willing to wait, I use the library's electronic catalog to order the book, and pick it up when I stop by next week.
I can't get a single friend to visit the library, but when I see a book I *know* they will love, I check it out for them, and make them borrow it. I routinely have to borrow ~4 books at a time, just so I have one to read.
So, how about average number of books checked out, because I can't be the only person who brings home entertainment for the masses.
Just -1, Troll talking to another.
but since the main reason seemed to be to use the internet it seems to me a large portion of them was just using it as a free high speed connection anyway. I already have cable in my house and, being 33, I can do whatever I want with my computer so I see no reason to go to a library to do anything. Nor do I do anything that needs to be that anonymous.
As far as books go, I have a better technical reference than my local public library does and I have all the fiction I really want to read (also quite large). Anything new comes out I would rather own it than borrow it anyway as I generally read books multiple times. The local university has a better technical reference section than I do but I don't have time to sit there and read a large reference book and I can't take one home. If/when my work requires me to read one then I may go, but they usually find it cheaper just to purchase the books (or I prefer to purchase for my own library even though I didn't have too - I would rather have 100% control of something I need). Even in the cases I simply find something interesting time commitments mean I pretty much have to purchase it. Further, add that most reference material is now easily findable on the internet and I have even less reason to go to the library.
Ah well, some may find it sad that I almost never visit one but I'm shocked over 50% of the people feel the need too. Once out of college I see no reason to go to one unless you are someone, like my mother, who likes reading pop-culture once read books (and there is nothing wrong with that - MUCH better than watching TV which is what most do). Generally if it is worth reading for your education it is worth purchasing (true while in college also, but money is a larger issue and you should factor library time into your class schedule) and the majority of books I feel are worth my time to read are also worth my time to purchase and read more than once (technical or entertaining).
But then, the last time I went to the public library they seemed to think the same thing - mostly children's books and pop-fiction (lots and lots of romance novels) along with a large block of computers with high speed internet connections. They could get technical stuff on ILL's but they generally pointed me towards the universities library.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
I am baby boomer and have haven't been to a library for over 10 years. I used to just about live in the library, but they have become irrelevant to me. The technical section is full of out of date arcane crap, yet they spend huge sums on Oprah books and Brittany Spears CDs. A few years ago I tried to donate a box full of recent technical books to the local library; THEY REFUSED TO TAKE THEM. It used to be that even if the library didn't want the books for the shelves they took them for their book sales. The up side to that is that the local used book store gave me a good price (store credit) for the books, because they were the type of books that they can sell.
Anymore, I either get the information from the internet or I buy the books.
MYMINICITY LINK
Now we call them Fascinations and Castle Boutique, but you can still buy quality bullwhips at discount prices!
Just -1, Troll talking to another.
That's why I haven't been to a library in years. That and the fact that most research I do is on the Internet anyway. Libraries certainly fill a need, but not going to them doesn't necessarily imply negative things about us I don't think.
The original purpose of a library was to allow a community to invest a small amount of money in books and then let everyone in the community benefit from all of the books.
I think it would be appropriate for libraries to change their names to be called "Infotainment Centers", and for books to largely be replaced by computers, software, and DVD collections. Computer gaming should be perfectly acceptable -- because it is no different than people going to a traditional library and reading fantasy books or other forms of fiction. There are commercial "computer gaming rooms" and "Internet cafes" appearing in shopping plazas -- but, just as libraries have long coexisted with massive bookstore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc), the "Infotainment Center" can coexist with commercial "Internet cafes" and gaming rooms.
There are certainly many valuable books from decades past, and it will take a long time for all of that information to be available online -- and so I hope the traditional book-archiving aspect of libraries continues for a while -- but I think a plain computer lab, for GAMING, WATCHING DVDs, for AMUSEMENT, in addition to research and learning, should be the goal of libraries. The library will serve the modern public better -- and I think recreation is a valid way to serve the public -- and the idealists who hope to hook people on "more productive" or "more educational" things like reading, reading classic literature, and learning, might benefit from having the target audience already in the facility. (I'm guessing that Borders and Barnes and Noble booksellers have discovered that letting potential customers read books at their leisure, while drinking coffee, or even studying for exams with fellow students, is all OK because having people in the store will ultimately lead to more sales of books and coffee. In the same way, getting people in to the library by having X-Box, the latest video games, open WiFi, porn DVDs, whatever, might provide opportunities to encourage "more productive" or "more educational" activities.)
Instead, my daughter and I go to Borders or B&N. The library is so far out of the way and I'm so lazy about returning books, it usually amounts to the same thing anyway.
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When I was 17/18, we were Generation X - now I'm 28, we're Generation Y? How does that work?
My fiance and I, both in our thirties (I, only by mere days, dammit!!!! ;)), have library cards and visit often.
... Engr kids gotta drink too, partake of ye ol' mind-widening substances, and keep that GPA up.
... depending on author/writing/etc, you're in to get your hair blown back.
... say, Saturday morning. Strange things fall into place for me.
And I'll go a bit more 'lug-head' here: libraries kick some serious ass.
After finishing an engineering degree, then heading back into the library for leisure, I find the damn thing chock full of damn near everything I had previously wanted to sink time into, but simply didn't have
With a decent job and a little time to burn now, the library is a trove of wonderful books on theory - I use Oreilly's Safari for tactical, now-now-now stuff - go pick up a book at the library on a tech subject you 'pretty much know about'
Get a card. Get down to the library _before_ the urge to do dick for the weekend sets in
I'm not surprised libraries aren't used as much, there are so many things competing for a persons attention today besides just books, movie, TV, radio, entertainment, internet, etc. The internet is pretty much the one stop-shop for all of these, although I think there will always be libraries, I think one of the failings of the digital age is that digital masses of digital information can be wiped out fairly easily, but on the plus side, it's easier to copy and make redundant. I still wonder about the dangers (pros and cons) of digital storage, in terms of long term.
on the internet, the only reliable sources of research data demand subscription payments for facts.
They can eat me, especially because they demand financial and personal information big brother can use to track me.
I'll access my university's resources under alum privileges.
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It's got an excellent DVD and CD library.
Use your library. Donate digital media. Your entire community will thank you.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
Space, money, location, plus the reliability factor of the Internet is rather low. Those are a few reasons.
"Another way to think about the results: about 47 percent of Americans didn't visit a library even once last year."
For those of us old enough to remember when the local library was pretty much the only large source of information, this is a bit sad. But, not necessarily bad, just another example of things changing. With all the information available on the internet, there is less need for me to go to a library. Also, when I was that age stores like Borders -- with a huge selection of books and chairs where you're welcome to sit and read -- didn't exist.
I just realized how much of an idiot I am for advocating for games in a library. I'm a fucking idiot. I have no job and I live in my mother's basement.
For anyone over about age 25, buying books makes a ton of sense in certain categories. These are my particular reasons.
1. Borrowing a book creates an obligation to keep track of it, and then return it in good condition without any accidents. Since everything I read is alongside a snack, I manage to smudge the page of at least a book a year, sometimes two. If it's yours, and you're not a perfectionist, you don't have to care. Plus, I was paying attention in the "active reading" class. I write notes all around the margins of my books. If it was good enough for Fermat, it is good enough for me.
2. Borrowing a specific book forces a decision at the library to borrow X book, and not regret the decision. Then you have to read as much as needed to assuage your guilt when you can't finish it by the time it is due back. I enjoy science/essay monographs, and typically only read 50 pages a week of a particular tome, then switch it out the following week. For a valuable book, it is clearly worth the purchase price to dip into it once a month over the course of a year.
3. It's about the selection. This is the fallacy that creeps into one of your questions. Of course I don't drill linearly through my collection, never to care about it again. Having a permanent personal collection of basics allows you to gaze across the selection to pick something relevant for the moment. When I go cruising at a large bookstore, I snap up anything that I know I will need *later*. I REFUSE to be hobbled by some store's title display decisions. Libraries don't carry things like all four volumes of Tad Williams' Otherland.
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I do visit libraries often. I've read a couple dozen books last year. Of those, only two were on dead trees.
17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
Libraries suck these days. Budgets are cut and unless you're looking for an old book, the odds are unless you're in a particularly forward thinking or wealthy town they're not going to have what you're looking for.
I was at my towns Library maybe a dozen times in 2007 -- and while it may be close, I'm fairly certain I donated more new books than I checked out books there.
Unless the books you read are VERY mainstream (ie, your reading is dictated by talkshow hosts), libraries just won't work anymore.
Why do we need libraries any more?
All the world's information is on wikipedia! One or two pages can encapsulate the information on every subject!
Besides, how else would we learn about how the Black Panthers guard Vibranium?
I visited a library a few times in 2006, precisely because I have a good Internet connection at home. I was doing a distance learning course, and I wanted somewhere to study where I wouldn't be tempted to check Slashdot. Libraries are quiet places where you can read and write without much in the way of distractions.
Power tools. Gotta love them.
...and I find it astounding that 53% of any nation's population hits the public libraries at least once a year, let alone the US. I've always thought the figure would be much, much lower. In fact, there seems to be three types of people:
1. Those who frequent public libraries.
2. Those who don't.
3. Those who don't and only know those others who don't.
I seem to be part of category three.
Since I can remember, I've hit bookstores. About once a month, my mother went clothes-shopping and used to leave me at the bookstore closest to Macy's, or Broadway, or May Company, or whichever department store it was. Probably, my mother and the person in charge made some mutually benefitial arrangement.
I can remember leafing from book to book and never being bored. I recall getting tired from standing up, then looking for the slidable ladder and sitting in the second step, hunched over, reading a book. At the end of the day, my mother had to buy me Peanuts (you know, Charles Schultz). Some time later (and I can't recall the details), my attention shifted to Astronomy.
For a couple of cowardly visits there, I remember playing stupid, wandering aisles while terrified of daring to pass through the Sex Section and quickly leaf through a copy of The Joy Of Sex and its awesome illustrations.
My point is, since a very young age, commercial bookstores played the role of public library for me. I think. I've never lived the Public Library experience, I don't know what it's like. Although I wouldn't mind wandering through the aisles of the Berlin Public Library, as shown in Win Wenders' Wings Of Desire .
And today, I would love to thank my mom for allowing books to babysit me as much as possible.
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I'm 42 (is that generation X?) anyway I visit the library at least one a week for the following reasons;
1.) I check out at least 4 DVD's at least once a week. Money was pretty tight for me this year as I spend most of my money investing in my business and paying off debts. I've seen a lot of classic movies as well as new releases I have never seen or would have never found at the video store or even online.
2.) I use the free wi-fi and will set up a temp. office space for serveral hours especially when I need a quite place to get some coding or blog writing done.
3.) I do check out books but I usually hit the new books sections. It's only two shelfs of stuff.
4.) I read local business journals that have a lot of great content about local business (especially my competitors) as well as some magazine.
I do agree however the tech section is a joke in most libraries. If they are not going to keep that section up to date they should keep some of those books at all. It's pretty disturbing to see reference books for programming languages that are several versions back. What really an indication these books are out of date is they often have screen shots of Netscape....3.0.... on OS9.
Every time ComputerWorld opens its mouth, all that I hear is like having Brittany Spears advise me on how to debug my Perl code. That's nice, ComputerWorld, now is there someone on TV you should be doing?
Your porn stash doesn't count!
Seriously though, how many people remember the good old days when libraries kept some annual issues of Sports Illustrated at a Reference section, for a no-checkout, table-use only?
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
Libraries are not about books anymore than carpenters are about hammers or surgeons are about scalpels.
Instead, libraries are about the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of data and information for their respective audiences. Carpenters are about building things, and surgeons are about healing. For the longest time, information was primarily manifested in books. It is not about the books; it is about what is inside the books. Unfortunately, too many libraries have identified their tool with their trade (profession), and too many librarians have not learned how to exploit the use of computers to change the image. Sigh. No, libraries are not indispensable, but they can save people time, record the historical record for future generations, provide a neutral space for people to interact in a community, and educate a population.
The article outlines some of the ways libraries are trying to reinvent themselves, and at the same time, demonstrating how they are still about data and information for the acquisition and creation of knowledge.
Now when you go to the library you get to hear squalling children and soccermoms chatting with each other. All they need is a Starbucks inside the library to complete it. Free WiFi is nice though - what with all the coffee bars going T-Mobile.
In more rural areas, I can see it being a burden to get to the library. Where we are, there is a library I can borrow from in every town, 10 or 12 with 5 miles of here. Its not just the free books, DVDs, CDs & software, there are other activities in the building as well. Programs for the kids (I help run the twice monthly chess program in my town and my wife runs the knitting program). Its a part of the community and so am I. Being dead broke, I can easily find almost anything I want for free and justify getting it. Bccls.org
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I go to the local library occasionally to read magazines. From September through May it's packed with high school kids doing homework. And socializing, and reading YouTube and MySpace, etc. New libraries are being built to accommodate this type of activity. They're even including cafes or snack bars. If my kids were still in school I'd be happy to see them spending time like that.
Head over to the wiki. Gen Xers were born in the 60s and 70s. When the idea first popped in the 90s, I was under the impression that I was just barely a Gen Xer, being born in 69. But I guess they broadened the category. But more importantly, why should we pretend we care? It's just more of that asinine Time Magazine pseudo-demography.
I'm surprised at how many people here are proud of not going to the library, but that's more about me and my age, I suppose. I was born in 1969 and grew up in the rural South. We didn't even get cable in my town until 1980. Anyway, I grew going to the library, checking out a dozen books a week, a mixture of fiction and technical books. I lived in Memphis and Iowa City for years. Memphis libraries were horrible, because under-funded. Iowa City's library was incredibly good, and that's where I started using a library to check out DVDs, a week with a DVD for "free." Since I was a grad student, that was the right price. But I'm Knoxville, TN now, and it's hard to get much use out of the library. There's one copy of "brainy" books for the whole library system, and the local branch will have several copies of some book I wouldn't wipe my ass with, some bodice-ripper or craptastic "philosophy" book like The Secret of some pseudo history by an author like that The Irish Saved Civilization jingoist. Those books were always there and will always be around, but if you cut funding, you stop getting multiple copies of Neal Stephenson, any copies of astronomy or engineering books, and you don't have room anymore for the old copy of Joyce's Ulysses. And I don't know if you can find poetry in a public library at all. But you can find broadband, and generally there's a spotty-faced kid or a poopy-pants homeless guy looking at boobies. Or teenagers in chatrooms. There's seldom anything of value going on in the computer area, I mean nonmasturbatory value--unless you consider the chatting about who likes who and who's cute all that valuable. But computers are the NEW thing. I'd prefer we still spent the money on books. It may be a dead tech to many of you, but there's no need to rush the transition. For those of you who consider your local bookstore a library, please remember that most of our population can't afford to view it that way. Even a crappy mass market paperback is $8 these days. And not all communities even have the markets to support a bookstore. YMMV -- but give the old B&M library a try. At least you can encourage with your own interests that they cater to some poor kid somewhere who doesn't know yet that he wants to turn out liking the same stuff as you.
There aren't many libraries in my locality, but even if there were, I wouldn't use them, because I prefer to own my books instead of renting them. This allows me to keep marginalia and personalise them. So if I think of something while reading a book, I quickly keep a short note on it on the book's margin. I have marginalia going back 10+ years and they remind me of all my life :)
I have not visited a public library for several years but I've gone to my university's library several times during the past year. The reason is that I have to refer to highly specialized books, some of then in Sanskrit and Classical Chinese. They are either totally unavailable to buy or are quite expensive ($250 for a book!) so I have to go to the library to get them.
Whenever I'll be able to look back on the past year and realize that I did not have to go to the library to get my research done, that will be a time to celebrate. Physically bringing myself to the library's stacks to get a book gives me nothing over electronic distribution.
Hmm... oh wait! Paper books have no DRM. So let me amend: physically bringing myself to the library's stacks to get a book gives me nothing over DRM-free electronic distribution.
I often find that most local libraries don't have anything timely enough for my (generally technical) interests.
However, it is an incredible resource for younger children. Even in the day of video games, I found my kid under the age of 8 or so just *love* the library, and the generally well-stocked children's section. And where I find books a bit pricey, and worry about kids temporary interest in a given one, the library is perfect for letting them pick out something they like, and check it out. If they take to a specific book, I buy a copy.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
According to wikipedia, generation X is anyone born in the '60s or '70s. Generation Y is anyone born 1981-1995. I was born in 1980. WTF?
One in four Americans read no books last year
Wednesday August 22, 2007
A quarter of US adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year and, excluding those who had not read any books at all, the usual number of books read was seven.
Of those who did read, women and pensioners were most avid readers, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices. The median figure for books read - with half reading more, half fewer - was nine books for women and five for men. The figures also indicated that those with college degrees read the most, and people aged 50 and over read more than those who are younger.
People from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year. Southerners who do read, however, tend to read more books - mostly religious books and romance novels - than people from other regions.
Those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently but the Bible and religious works were read by two-thirds in the survey, more than all other categories. Popular fiction, histories, biographies and mysteries were all cited by about half, while one in five read romance novels. Every other genre - including politics, poetry and classical literature - were named by fewer than 5% of readers. More women than men read every major category of books except for history and biography. Industry experts said that confirms their observation that men tend to prefer nonfiction.
There was even some political variety evident, with Democrats and liberals typically reading slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives.
Book sales in the US have been flat in recent years and are expected to stay that way indefinitely. Analysts attribute the listlessness to competition from the internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion. The publishing business totaled $35.7 billion (26.4 billion) in global sales last year, 3% more than the previous year, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a trade association. About 3.1 billion books were sold, an increase of less than 1%.
All the world's information is on wikipedia!
Wikipedia has nothing on science... if for my research I was limited only to Wikipedia I would fail miserably... and I say this as a donor and contributor. Need proof? See for yourself: Wikipedia has *nothing* on the JRP (Joint Reprenishment Problem), and not only there isn't any article on it but also no wiki page at all references it (Google search), and yet the book I have in my hands right now (bought, not rented) has plenty of info on JRP. And not only that, Wikipedia has nothing on the variable neighbourhood search (see google). Need more? Wikipedia has only *one* page referencing p-median problems (google). Wikipedia is good, but their notability policies kill science and the wiki in general. Also, last time I checked the Sun article it had no info on the internal chemistry of our star, so I had to write a basic stub section (which isn't really good but I did it hoping that someone else could hop in and improve, but it looks like I was overconfident... in the old wiki days people came to improve anything you wrote but now with the recent influx of masses who learnt about the wiki from the media the culture has changed a lot, although I believe that in the end even the "wiki immigrants" will learn and adopt the true wiki culture and help each other improve all articles). How can you educate people about the Sun without discussing how it works internally, I don't know. Perhaps knowing that the Sun is composed of such and such elements is enough detail for most people, I don't know, but I think all people should know about the element abundances and their diffusion and how gravity affects them etc. In the unfortunately very few ocassions when Wikipedia has an article, however stubby, on areas I research I cite it liberally, and when I have time I write articles myself (there was no article on Peligot's salt or for Peligot himself for FSM's sake, or even for the Cannon's algorithm and Latour's thesis for example, and outside science, for example there was no article on Luycx, and all that while there are plenty of articles on obscure pornstars and celebrities or even small villages in the middle of nowhere, so sometimes I wonder whether Wikipedia should be renamed Poppedia, and I don't say this as criticism but rather as a motivation for improvement).
It's worth noting I think that what people put on Wikipedia reflects the interests that dominate in the populace since Wikipedia is so popular now (sometimes I equate the massive influx of new wiki editors after it started being mentioned in the media with Usenet's eternal september), so we can see for example that people in general regard celebrities and fiction books more highly than chemistry, artificial intelligence, or science in general. This can only be explained with stupidity, as a sane and intelligent person would prefer to spend their time learning about true knowledge (for example an algorithm which can be used to solve many problems in practical time) rather than stupid celebrity trivia (and if you know everything about your favourite celeb, what have you achieved? you are still a small dot in the universe knowing everything about another small insignificant ego-boosted dot while you bo
When I lived in an urban area, I never went near a library. I could get broadband, there were lot of bookstores, and there were movie rental places on almost every corner. A couple of years ago I moved to a very rural area and rediscovered the joy of going to a library. There was no broadband in the area. The nearest bookstore was 75 miles away. The local video rental had about 150 titles. So any option to use the Internet, buy books, or rent movies was limited, to put it mildly. Then I visited the library. Broadband connection. Books to choose from, and if they didn't have it, they could get it. A huge selection of movie titles. All for free!
I still live in this area, and we now have broadband, but the book stores are still far away, and movie rental options still suck. So I still visit my local library regularly. I get to check out books, and if I do like them, I'll go ahead and order them from one of the on-line retailers for a personal copy. If I don't like it, I'm only out some time.
In this area at least, the library is a valuable resource, and one that's there when you need it. If you don't have the money, or thing like broadband, bookstores, or movie rentals simply aren't there, the library is. Even if you aren't in need of it now, it doesn't mean it's irrelevant or useless.
College sophmore here. I rarely use books - when I need to reference something, I use the library's online databases. I can access these from my dorm room. I do use the library regularly still to study, but just because it's the one place on campus I can find some peace and quiet.
The summary got it wrong-- the users ARE NOT there for Second Life. There's a group of librarians who fervently believe that tons of the people in their community use Second Life and they're trying to expand their reference services into the virtual world. There's no evidence to support that, and the result is your tax dollars that go to the libraries involved are supporting a publicly-funded help desk for Linden Labs (the company behind Second Life).
I buy books because I reread them and because I want to keep marginalia (notes on the margins etc) and personalise them, and I also want to know that they are mine (I see relationships with books as personal relationships, not sure whether I can convey the meaning effectivelly). I don't go to libraries (not that there are any here), but I do maintain paid subscriptions to many digital libraries (academic and technical) where I can get books and papers as ascii text or PDF. Is it waste of money to buy books? Yes it is because fscking publishers charge too much for giving so little (and killing trees in the process)... most scientific academic books are over 100-200 EUR a piece, some go much higher, but the knowledge they contain is of course priceless, so the price is irrelevant (if you can pay, of course, if not then you're screwed unless you have a library nearby or you can do your work with Gutenberg)... if publishers (and authors cooperating with them) had even the slightest interest in educating people they would release their books under the GFDL or Creative Commons. There are some projects aiming at creating free books (Wikibooks is one), but it seems that the people who are capable of reading books and have time in their hands aren't many.
Let's see. We live in a surveillance society under a burgeoning police state which is interested in tracking all your reading material to make sure that you're not reading anything too dangerous.
Remind me again why I don't go to the library?
When I moved to Charlotte, NC last year, I had no real job, nor any money to spend on books. I found that the library was the cheapest way of reading books rather then sitting around, watching television, and becoming fat. Now I have a job, I'm going to school, and still go to the library to find books to read. It's perfect for doing research, and I can take the books home. Before last year I hadn't been in a public library for about twenty-five years. Now, whether for school, work, or myself, I'm always at the library looking for something to read.
Save Pangaea!! Stop Continental Drift!!
The place is packed all the time. Yes, with teenagers and little kids and soccer moms and homeless people too. Yes, there's a coffee shop (local, not starbucks) in the lobby. Yes, there are lots of public access computers. No, they don't charge late fines (but will eventually bill you if you've had the material long enough). Yes, they have all sorts of public programs - free movies, kids activities, job training, business seminars, writing workshops, self-improvement workshops, study groups, etc. Our public library is a vibrant, thriving hub of activity.
Many people don't realize that, if the library doesn't have something you want (book, DVD, CD, game, etc.), you can request it! The librarians want to get books people are interested in - so it helps tremendously to tell them. Then, when what you requested comes in, it's automatically on hold for you. Ever heard of inter-library loans? Almost any public library can get almost any material that any other public library has. It just takes a few days. And, they have access to almost all the $ubscription-based information sources that you can't access from a Google search.
Librarians are, generally, very eager and capable public servants. They want to help you. They want to get that material for you. They want the teenagers to come in and use the computers. There's just an incredible commitment to public service. At least that's the way it is where I live.
All pass beyond reach of medicine. None pass beyond the reach of love.
Ironically, I actually use my library for their literary content. I say ironically, because I don't actually go there in person. I download eBooks and AudioBooks. I wonder if this foreshadows a broader trend, in which folks seeking content use their virtual library, while folks seeking, uh, other stuff, go to the building. Maybe old library buildings will be converted into a modern equivalent of the Grange Hall?
Here's a few reasons why I don't visit my local library:
1) Selection: I just checked online, and of the ten books I've recently purchased only two were in the library system, one copy each, and one was currently checked out. By "system", I mean the *entire county* (San Joaquin) which has about a half million people in it. I did a search for "CSS" and only three general website design books came up.
2) Ghetto: We have a nice, clean library, but the people who hang out there make me feel like I'm in the ghetto. There are occasionally homeless people in the parking lot and the walkway into the library. Kids are often found making out in the back corners. This is why I shop at Target instead of Wal*Mart.
I just don't think that I'm the "target market" for their services. They still serve a great need, though, for people who have a smaller income or would rather save a few bucks occasionally. For people without internet access, the library is a fantastic resource (especially for those who need internet access for a job application or to file taxes).
That being said, I support the library when I can. I donate my used books to them, I volunteer and teach free computer classes to patrons, and I've helped them modernize their website.
-David
The only reason I've set foot in the library in the last two decades was to get access to the local building codes. I put an addition on my house, and the only publicly available version of the local building codes was in dead-tree format at the local libraries. Unfortunately, these reference items were not available for checkout, so you had to do your research in the library. That truly sucked, as it made doing tradeoffs difficult. Of course, I could have hired a GC to do the work for me, but that would have defeated the purpose.
The library copies are usually the only publicly available versions of your local laws. Some of the codes are published online, but the lawmakers don't want that information to be too readily available. If it was, we'd be able to identify all the scams they're running.
I haven't been in a library in several years.
The local library has very little selection (part of being a small town). What selection they do have is very dated. So, I now just buy books rather than going to libraries. Over the years I've accumulated enough to fill a half-dozen bookshelves, almost all of which I've read, and am continually buying more. Several of my friends have similar sized libraries of their own, although most of their libraries dominated by science fiction.
Estate sales are fun, you can get boxes upon boxes of books really cheap, sort through them for the ones you want, and donate the rest to the local library to help them out, or sell them to a used book store and often break even.
I'm that odd paradox. I'm academically trained in libraries and information science, but I now work in the private sector using those skills and have little time for pleasurable reading and movie-watching. The 47% stat kills me, but I maybe checked out things 3 times in 2007. The big reason is I simply can't get enough out of a book in 3 weeks. I essentially use it to see if a book is worth buying, which is also an argument in library's favour. I can afford to buy any book I need; others can't. And the e-book website services I've encountered aren't remotely describable as reader friendly, they're designed to keep people from ripping 436 pages of text. (Think of a CNET article costing you $50, and cringe in fear.)
Granted there are hundreds upon hundreds of examples of pulp-shelf-fillers out there, but that same proportion of dross extends logarithmically to the Internet. Evaluating truly good reference material should be independent of its format.
THe public library used to be a place with a huge variety of books, both current and out-of-print. If you wanted to find an out-of-print book, the library was one of the big resources. Several years ago found our library giving away or selling for a dime apiece boxes and boxes of the kinds of books that I normally go the the library to find, and the library was reorienting itself as a kind of free browsing bookstore... spending money on bestsellers instead of reference books. As other people have noted, it really doesn't have the resources to compete with Barnes and Noble in variety or volume, but that seems to be what it was trying to do. Now, the library has decided it's going to be a free Internet cafe... will last years bestsellers be the next pile of freebies in the lobby?
When I lived in North Carolina, I could count on the libraries to have books, references, information and peace and quiet. With more and more libraries changing into 'media centers' they're gotten noisier and less focused on the actual books, but at least they were still there. I moved to Georgia a few years ago and there isn't a single library in the greater Atlanta area I have yet to find worth setting foot in for more than a couple minutes (I think I copied my taxes the first year I was here in one). They lack references and generally have very few actual books compared to what I'm used to, and I'm just used to a regular town's public library. If you want something, you're better off sitting at home and requesting it from whatever part of the state it might be in (IF they have it), and good luck if they'll tell you truly how long they'll hold it for you or actually call you when it comes in. I fail to see how this is an actual library experience, and I can definitely understand how people of my generation and younger just don't want to bother anymore.
I never thought I'd be one to prefer purchasing a book over checking it out, but Amazon can have it my door next day or 2 days for free, and the used books stores have a better selection overall than the libraries in almost every area.
Wikipedia has nothing on science
I think it'd be more accurate to just say it has very little on science. What's sad though, is that it's still a larger quantity and more up to date than the average public library on most scientific topics. I'm tempted to start buying up somewhat older university text books to donate, but even if the library would accept them I suspect that the demand just isn't there.
It's both amazing and depressing that for all the talk from politicians about the need and importance of education, I've never heard of one running on a platform of improving the libraries and offering free education through them on research techniques and scientific methodology.
Everything will be taken away from you.
You must be a new year.
testing out my trending skills
Lets see, when I first enter the library I see the computers. Then I see the shelves of DVDs. Then I see the CDs. Then i see the childrens playroom. Once I had to go to the bathroom way in the back and I did see rows of vertical rectangle thingees. I wondered what they could be?
That's the sound of sarcasm flying over your head. =)
It actually irks me quite a bit that people "prove" that something doesn't exist because there's no reference to it on Wikipedia. And sometimes when you do put a fact on wikipedia, editors remove it for one of a million nonsensical reasons (or they're JayJG and are just boosting their edit count by randomly reverting 3 edits a minute).
Even worse when people try putting something that's actually interesting on there (like those topics you mention) and they get speedy deleted because they aren't "relevant".
Some of us don't live in towns that have a library open past 5, or on weekends.
Natural born pack-rat ?!? ...Seriously, you should see my mom's doll collection...it is stored on PALLETS ;)
;) And as someone else said i too tend to be a library for friends and family (or gift shop..) Also when we travel some of the Rv parks have a trade a book shelf for swapping.
;)
I too buy them now especially when i can buy by the lot on ebay for $1 or less apiece delievered. The best/nearest library is downtown, i don't know if they have free parking but it kinda awkward parking there none the less (pointed the wrong way when leaving), plus i spend the first $1 just getting there. Add in my time and it seems to work for me.
Besides i get some interesting surprises i would not have read otherwise.
The lot on the way at the moment has quite a few hardback books from a library sale. So i supported the library albeit indirectly which is probably better than going
I have internet, music (that packrat thing again), and games at home.
All that said i don't suppose it would hurt to poke my nose in there more than once a decade
Get a membership at your local university or college library. They are much better funded and have more relevant material, both up-to-date and historic.
They usually only charge basically a token annual fee for non-students.
Yeah it's depressing, but I think we citizens could self-organise and advocate for science or donate funds to libraries (if all of us donated half a euro, and the most wealthy of us some more, then the final sum would be significant). I'm a bit distrustful of charities that *collect* funds and then claim that they donate them to good cause, though, I would prefer the approach of giving circles where each participant *pledges* to donate a small amount to a cause and then all those who have pledged do so independently. I don't think we should expect everything from the state or politicians, we can do many things and bring change in society with our power as individuals if we really want.
And exactly how many 30 year olds frequent the library for homework help? Inquiring minds want to know.
Most post-adolescent library computer goers are doing shady other things. [NSFW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02_XBuu44VU
I don't mean back-to-back readings. Readings have been 2-5 years apart, and the way my perceptions change show me how I have changed. Also, you see more when you have a deeper background in themes the book touches on. How you read Camus's The Stranger as an angsty teenager is different than your reading as a 35-yr-old who has read something about existentialism. So yes, you do profit from further readings, if you read books that are good for more than entertainment.
When I lived in Arizona I spent a lot of time at Bookmans! I was always looking for an excuse to go there. I loved strolling through the store to see what was new.
Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
It's funny that people (like you) are trying to make sane arguments why not visiting a library isn't analogous to being arrogant, and frankly, you're right.
This article doesn't prove that Americans are arrogant, but the fact "The study found that less than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 33 percent could not point out Louisiana on a U.S. map."
Or worse, "nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find Iraq on a map".
What about "88 percent of those questioned could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia despite widespread coverage of the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001" according to cnn. It continues:
"Far too many lack even the most basic skills for navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events."
I don't visit libraries neither, because I almost never read books. But I do have my fair share of common knowledge. I can pin-point Iraq (Bagdad and a few other places), Afghanistan, and pretty much most important places in the world. I can even pin-point Louisiana, although I'm European (i.e. non-American for those of you who didn't know).
Arrogance is embedded in many things the US exports, such as brain-damaging "freedom"-propaganda crap hollywood movies. But us non-Americans seem to have a better anti-stupidity-filter when we are exposed to American crap media. That doesn't make us all better individuals, however. There are stupid non-Americans too, it's just that when it comes to citizen's common knowledge in general, USA fits among the development countries. Lack of library-visiting doesn't prove that, but a lot of other things do.
I'm in a very similar frame of mind as you. I think the generation after X was miss timed as the demographers (?) wanted a new classification. But they were too eager and there was a definite difference around that age (with the benefit of hindsight) ... the digital native. What age are the oldest people that were 'playing' with home computers before they started any formal schooling. I can say yes and was born in 1977. I think my brother, born 1975 would say no.
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Why go to the library when everything, and more, is available on the Internet? The library is just a waste of time and energy. We're not illiterate, just more efficient.
Between Amazon/Barnes&Noble/Half.com/etc, and all the various sources of reviews available on the Web, what does the average (i.e. non-academic, non-child, non-poor) person still need a library for? They don't even serve mochai caramelatte frappamacchiatos, do they?
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
This doesn't really surprise me. I had a roommate once who insisted that libraries do not have "new" books (they do).. I'm not sure where she was going with that one. I also used to be cheap and check out textbooks from the library and just keep renewing them for the semester - none of my classmates realized that you could do this either.
This isn't that surprising. When you're younger, you are required by schools to go visit libraries. As you age you continue visiting libraries, but as your income improves, you start buying things for yourself. Eventually you end up with your own library or just don't really care. Also, many people get lazy and just download & print out what they want to read.
These days, I read most of my news exclusively online. I also subscribe to the paper I read, since other family members prefer reading on paper. I can connect to O'Reilly's webpage and read all their technical books online, so no more O'Reilly book purchases are necessary. I have no problems reading online. I'm probably one of very few people that don't print it to paper to read. Besides, computer books are absolete as soon as you buy them so why should I waste too much money buying them. No second hand bookstore buys them back. I have a shelf of worthless 6-15 year old computer books, because I couldn't sell them and I don't feel like recycling them yet. I have no hard copy of any computer book newer than 6 years old at home.
I have also downloaded numerous Project Gutenberg books that I had not read yet. Since I get my library materials online, why should I go visit a library. Well, now that my kids are in school, I have to visit the library with them. I've found that CD's and DVD's are plentiful. It's a good source of free movie rentals that you can keep for a week. While the selection is not as plentiful as a Blockbuster, there are numerous good movies that you can still borrow and watch. Why spend money when it's available for free?
First of all, I *do* tend to reread books I like, but more importantly, I tend to like to read things that aren't quite so popular -- novels in German, grammars of various languages (modern, ancient and artificial), scholarly histories of eastern bloc nations. Generally, except for perhaps university libraries, libraries generally just have the major classics and a few recent popular books.
It's like radio -- if you actually *like* Top 40 music, probably listening to the radio is fine -- if you like alternative music, it isn't so great, though.
I've started using the library a little more, but it's not exactly pleasant. Run my bag through the x-ray machine to get in, it's crowded full of homeless people (inside and out) looking for a place to hang out, and not much selection.
It seems that most of their business is renting out DVDs (for probably the same price as Blockbuster) and providing a warm place for homeless people, and less anything research or book-related.
Non fiction technical reference books of course I find it handy to keep. Certain works of non fiction like a history exploration, futurist essay or occasionally fiction I find so insightful that I keep it like a reference. Most other books of reasonable worth I like to give to others. I would say lend but they rarely come back anyway, so often I just say keep it. A few I consider absolute canonical collectibles and thus I keep them in the hope that my children, future grandchildren and close friends will gain as much from them as I have.
There is a big difference in telling a ten year old "you really should check out this book at the library" and having them wander through your study with you on a lazy weekend morning. I cannot tell you how good it feels to watch a child wander through the books, try them out one here and there and them find them later looking for more by the same author. To find them deep into a book and ask them "what ya readin'today" and get an answer like "For Whom The Bell Tolls, 1984, Slaughterhouse-Five or Steppenwolf", just something else that they dug out of my canonical set. It is also nice to be able to pull a book from the shelf, open it to a selected passage at an opportune time. I might see it different if I lived a few blocks away from a big city library. However I live seven miles from anywhere in the woods, and I like it here, a lot.
Wabi-Sabi
Matthew