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$39.5 Million Hi-Tech Library Opens In Illinois
The new $39.5 million Fountaindale Public Library features: flat-screen TVs, video games, self-checkout stations, a variety of e-readers, and a cafe. Library officials say the new facility is a blueprint for libraries of the future, and will focus on using new technologies. From the article: "The Fountaindale Public Library, with its state-of-the-art, Wi-Fi equipped space, is starkly different from the previous antiquated library, a nearby one-story brick structure built in 1975 that awaits the wrecking ball. Officials are hopeful the new facility attracts a demographic libraries haven't seen in a number of years — young professionals."
I can't wait to be a homeless person so I can start hanging out in that library!
Or perhaps they heard that education is the sure way to bolster and sustain the economy in the long term within a world market.
They'll keep a few print books in the back as museum specimens.
Libraries are going the same direction was Blockbuster. People will borrow (or just buy) directly from the comfort of their fat recliner. I used to be an avid library patron, visiting at least once a week, but then the Web arrived and now I get all my stuff from amazon (used market) or isohunt (theft) or official websites (legal).
Information wants to be expensive AND wants to be free. So you have Value vs. Cheap distribution fighting each other.
Hey, we got cash for new sports stadiums and missiles and what-not, why not libraries - at least they target generally lower-income people.
Edmonton moved to the "high-tech" libraries a few years ago, and the only complaint I have about them is the self-checkout, and that's just because I like librarians (the machines generally work just fine).
Videogames get kids in the door, at which point there's a chance they'll actually pick up a book. Ditto movies and music. Public wi-fi is a logical partner to libraries (open access, etc.)
Illinois is broke dot com
Space age libraries. Woohoo.
Is there really much point to non-collegiate / scholastic libraries in 2011? It seems like most non-print resources are available at home.
Four-digit slashdot ID. Recognize.
>>>they target generally lower-income people.
I'd rather show them how to get online. i.e. Set them up with a cheap $7 dialup or $20 DSL line, so they can access an entire world of information (wikipedia) or books (random authors websites). Also eliminates the need to burn gasoline driving to the library. ----- Anybody know someone without a computer? Give them an old laptop or PC and get them connected to wikipedia.com and yahoo.com and start exploring.
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>>new sports stadiums and missiles
Waste and waste. End the war and you don't need the missiles except to repel an invader. And sports is fine IF the money comes from the rich Team's Megacorp rather than my pocket.
Information wants to be expensive AND wants to be free. So you have Value vs. Cheap distribution fighting each other.
Maybe they'll be like the RCL (sp? the VFW equivalents that are like clubs for each city) in Australia because as much as I like coffee and gay boys I'm just not a fan of having to go to Starbucks as a place to concentrate.
That and my local library is in a township which is not up to par at all.
Apparently they got that whole budget / bankrupt thing handled
Don't get me wrong, I like libraries. I use them fairly frequently too, actually. But the single biggest factor for me about a library is the number and quality of books. Wi-Fi is nice, though I have mobile internet with me most of the time anyway. Plasma screens usually just relay simple info that could be covered by a sign.
I don't want to disparage technology - but it's much less important than the books (and good chairs...).
Is it now time to get off your lawn?
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
Flat screen TVs? Self-checkout? That makes it as sophisticated as... every grocery store in Bollingbrook.
That said, I think the reinvention of libraries from a book-storage facility to a community space devoted to being a platform for self education, ad hoc business, and community organizing is awesome. That, not the inclusion of teevee, is the point worth noting here.
Haters gonna hate!
"The laws of science be a harsh mistress." --Bender
hold on to your hemisphere.
Stop spending money! Are these guys crazy?
Ah, what, don't want it to be too convenient? Will infringe on the bookstore business? How about you take the gazillion dollars dumped on this library and award it to writers/e-publishers instead, maybe pro-rated per online interest in their books.
I frequently feel that the centralized commie approach to books is better for culture and literacy.
A "professional" used to be a well-read practitioner of a skill requiring, well, lots of reading.
But today's "young professional" is anyone with a blue-collar skill set who is convinced that not getting grease on his hands makes him somehow better. This includes, of course, the "IT admin" or the run-of-the-mill commercial developer.
What I wonder is couldn't they have put something effective together for less than $39 million? It seems like a ton of money. ebooks seem like such a waste too if you need a reader to read them and cost the same as a regular book. Books are easy and you don't need batteries or an e-reader to view them. There is something satisfying about coming home from the library with a stack full of books. Ahhh, I can almost smell that old book smell now.
I wonder how they handle extended power outages.
Do they just close? Do they have a UPS/generator system that will carry them over? Is there a manual system for those who simply want to check out an old-school dead-tree book?
I guess I'm a bit old school when it comes to libraries (nothing better than an old Carnige library building) so I'm a little dubious that televisions and video games should be there - they constitute a distraction from reading and research. On the other hand, it's heartening to hear that money is being put into libraries - they're an important resource. Technology for cataloging and checkout is certainly good, as a library full of books can be quite the resource management challenge.
I'm a little surprised they're unhappy about not seeing professionals - in my experience as people move to the young professional stage specialization means the local public library isn't likely to have what they need (specialized technical books tend to be a long shot, since only one in 1000 patrons will want it and that one probably would order a newer version through Amazon...). On the other hand, they're GREAT for young kids who will burn through a ton of books on a broad range of topics in short order. They're also good when you get towards retirement and don't need the intense focus demanded by professional careers - wandering into the library and picking up a random book for half a day is more practical then.
If they want young professionals(why?) they'd have to get a whole bunch of subscriptions (online, if nothing else) to paywall publications that people can't cheaply get at home via the internet. (One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30...)
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Want to get young professionals in libraries? Make an area where people can sit in comfy chairs and get a coffee while they read or surf WiFi.
Libraries could use the extra revenue from coffee shops (heck it can be a local shop, not even a chain). Have several large desks where people can spread out work or homework and work in small groups... again, with coffee.
You'd be surprised how many more young professionals would spend hours in a library if they can get their caffeine addiction served.
... that's just because I like librarians
Yeah, me too.
That is all.
as the fear fades, regard grows, evile flees. see you there?
They did this when they built the new Salt Lake City main library a few years back. Along with some of the small shops in there, it seems to have worked pretty well.
Seriously, library chicks are absolute sluts! I've never left a library without getting laid. Whether its a studious goth reading up on castles, a middle aged soccer mom learning about new recipes, or even a frisky granny checking out a copy of Lolita, you can't beat the library for sex! Heck the septuagenarian marms manning the desk will rock your world. Ask to see the special collection of "rafter jacks", that is your secret pass phrase for hedonism.
No one cares what you would do. Go start your own library.
Given that I use major copyright deposit libraries, special collections, and libraries that collect deeply beyond their copyright deposit rights (ie: prior to foundation, other nation's material); I don't really give a rat's arse. Local libraries do not, cannot, and ought not to meet my professional needs.
If they're attempting to attract latte sipping aspirational petits-bourgeois / managerial 80s guys, then they really ought to listen to my record of Huey Lewis and the News.
Young professionals have already bought a single serving consumable unit of "culture" in the form of their degree. They barely use it apart from being able to interpret Futurama references for intertextual "comedic" purposes (ha ha, Richard Nixon).
Local libraries have a mission primarily as worker's education centres, for autodidacts, and for the children of workers.
One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30
So true.
Similarly with the new library in Indianapolis back in 2002. It seems a major goal was to make it a place for otherwise likely to be troubled youth to hang out and be in a safe environment. Everything I have heard suggested that it was a smashing success... turns out that whether they play games or read books kids in libraries learn more than kids breaking car windows.
My city's library has internet and email classes people can attend for free, as well as large print books and a new children's wing that has indoor trees that kids can sit in and read from with specially aimed lights to help make that work. We don't have all that fancy TV stuff as the one in this story though. We do have a coffee, soup and sandwich shop though!
You'd be surprised how many more young professionals would spend hours in a library if they can get their caffeine addiction served.
They tried that at my local library. Mostly attracted homeless, drunks, and teenagers, whom repelled more young professionals than the coffee attracted.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Yup, until copyright law gets a lot more sane libraries will be needed to allow people to read without buying.
depends on what you want them to lean, just cause its evil doesnt mean its not knowledge
only complaint I have about them is the self-checkout
But self-checkout lets you check out in Pirate!
Okay, the necessary disclaimer is that that's my website, and I made the themes.
And, of course, they only work with ITG's machines, and I have no idea which self-check vendor your library uses.
Still, speaking as someone who was originally not sold on the self-checkout machines, especially when the edict from above was, "Make everyone use the self-checkout machines unless there's no other option." Once that got toned down, and I came up with the themes, they became a fun, focal point of the library where people would go because it offered something of value, rather than just making it so the library doesn't have to hire more people.
I suppose my secondary point is that this is another case where technology has scary aspects, but has some nifty possibilities that weren't necessarily foreseen.
why not libraries - at least they target generally lower-income people.
So do the missiles. Let's eliminate waste by cutting those redundant libraries!
four flat panel TVs and some bean bags?
yeah, because TV panels are great for learning, and we need four of them side by side so we can...be distracted by the other three TVs...or something. How about...wireless tablets/e-readers connected to servers full of free pdf books, and preloaded with links to online resources. How about...different spaces conducive to getting shit done, or socializing, or peace and quiet. How about...rethinking the idea that a library is a place to store books. It's really more of a self-learning center, and there are lots of ways a library could go about facilitating self-learning...they can start by getting rid of the books. Just think, if you get rid of the books, you'll have a lot more space for learning.
Is a good model library of the future. All the world's information at my fingertips, with minimal hosting costs and minimal hassle. No need for taxpayer-paid fancy facilities, flat-screen TVs and all that shit. Fix copyright length and it might just become possible!
In otherwords just build a cafe.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
I see.
can't help but think of rollerball (with james caan). does anyone remember the library scene where books are being converted into digital format and then accidentally get deleted, forever?
There is a cafe at this library.
> whom repelled more young professionals than the coffee attracted.
Hello again vlm. How many times have we explained to you that "whom" is not a posh alternative to "who"?
Use "whom" in contexts that require "them" and "who" where you would use "they".
Your sentence therefore reads
"them repelled more young professionals than the coffee attracted"
which is obviously incorrect.
A library is a place for books.
Real books, printed with ink on wood pulp. Think about it. Much that is printed and bound is still not available in any other (electronic) format. Once knowledge has been made electronic, it's freely available. You don't need a library to access it. You can get that chunk of knowledge anywhere on the planet, in unlimited copies, somehow.
Books, on the other hand, are made of reconstituted wood. They cannot be easily copied - they are a shared resource. It's a concept that most /.ers should be familiar with. You can't just grab a duplicate of the Proceedings of the IEEE Particle Accelerator Conference, Volume II, Catalog #67CB36167, ISBN 0-7803-4377-8 off of Pirate Bay. To access that chunk of knowledge, you must deprive everyone else at your local library of the use of it while it's checked out by you. Libraries are the best method of obtaining a mutex, if you will, on a printed resource.
Libraries with things like Internet access, Killzone 3 for the PS3, System of a Down on CD, and Kill Bill on Blu-ray are a perversion of the function of a library and a waste of money. These are all things that are ubiquitous and duplicated at-will and without cost. Books are special because of their tangible nature, and they need a separate, appropriate method of access control.
Of course, no one will read this comment, or even see it, but this Anon is feeling a bit maudlin and I want to type this out anyway.
TL;DR, libraries are being ruined by nonsense like this, get off my lawn, etc.
BTW, this site has the wrong name. It should be Dotslash. When's the last time you used /. in a statement? Never. When's the last time you used ./? All the time. Plus ./ is the current directory. As in news? Current news? Get it? Insert laughing trombone here.
why people are upset at government spending... a cafe? video games?
The library in Orange County, Florida will even deliver books/videos to your house...
This is beyond ridiculous.
Borders has TVs now!
Ken
I recognise a few of those sexy librarians...sadly only from adult fine art films though.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
BUT as long as my dollars are involved, the product of my own sweat and work, then I will offer my opinion on the matter whenever, however, and wherever I desire.
If you don't like things like libraries being built, move to ... Somalia! The government free utopia you Ayn Rand fucks have been ejaculating too for years.
And in the future, if you or any other Politician tries to silence me, then I will remove him from office at the earliest opportunity because he is no longer listening to the Will of the People.
Haha, don't make me laugh with your threats. What are you going to do, make some more sockpuppet accounts on Slashdot and flame me? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO