. . . and they will bring toys!
Maybe I'm being unfair here by calling Kindles, iPads, and Nooks "toys." Or maybe not. I own an iPad and while I absolutely love it, I had to talk one of our students out of using her new iPad to write her thesis. And maybe that was presumptive. After all, who am I to tell anyone how to write anything, or which equipment they should use to do so?
I told her what I knew: it was an amazing device to scan web pages, e-books, PDFs and such, but in terms of writing what is expected to be a 70+ page dissertation, I prefer t0 use a laptop or desktop if only because the formatting features of Office are more complete than those found in Pages.
It doesn't matter. Writers write and will always discover the best tools for them after a bit of searching and experimentation (I did.) Readers will do the same, and often you'll find that writers and readers are the same people. They all know what they want to do, the problem lies in finding the right tools to maximize productive activity. E-books readers are becoming essential tools for readers and writers alike.
More frequently, the question that we hear is not "Should I buy a thing to read e-books?" but "Which thing should I buy?" And libraries both public and academic are on board--the question we ask at MCNY is often not "Should we make e-books available to our students?" but "How do we make more e-books available for them?" It's a very Big Deal.
Spending money on materials, staff and access is how you make a top-notch library, folks. I doubt anyone reading this is unaware of this position. So it should come as no surprise whatsoever when the headlines announce that "New, Rennovated SF Libraries Are Thriving":
In the past six years, nearly two dozen new and renovated branch libraries throughout the city have opened their doors. With three more to go, the largest capital improvement project in the library's history is coming to an end. And a happy ending seems sure: Checked-out materials and visits, already in the millions, are on the rise.
Elsewhere, shrinking budgets mean libraries are closing the books on better days. All 18 of San Jose's branches are in danger of closing. Oakland considered shuttering 14 libraries this summer. Santa Clara County now offers library cards to nonresidents - for $80.
But San Francisco's libraries are doing well for a number of reasons, including their widespread presence in community life and a fundraising arm that can both generate money and lobby for the city agency.
"We like to think of it as a rebirth or a renaissance," said City Librarian Luis Herrera.
Regardless of what supposedly fiscally-minded people tell you, the decision to close a library is never inevitable when budgetary woes arise:
The recession has hit libraries hard nationwide, said Marcia Warner, president of the Public Library Association. While voters generally back library bond measures, shrinking budgets make libraries "easy targets," she said.
"If I have to choose between taking police and fire down or taking libraries down, on the surface of it, it seems like, 'Oh, no big deal, we have to have these safety things,' " Warner said. "But then you begin to realize that libraries are at the core of a city's or a community's education."
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