This article from Morning Call discusses what small libraries are doing if they can\’t afford to compete technologically with other libraries…and the concern that goes along with it.
\”Many of these community libraries are waiting to see if finding their niche — tailoring a collection to users\’ tastes and remembering each person by name — will be enough to survive. It\’s a growing concern as educational products become increasingly digital and networked, arguably removing the need for publishers and libraries.\”
This article from Morning Call discusses what small libraries are doing if they can\’t afford to compete technologically with other libraries…and the concern that goes along with it.
\”Many of these community libraries are waiting to see if finding their niche — tailoring a collection to users\’ tastes and remembering each person by name — will be enough to survive. It\’s a growing concern as educational products become increasingly digital and networked, arguably removing the need for publishers and libraries.\”
\”For many of the 3,298 residents in the borough, the library is a de facto community center.\”
\”It\’s where longtime librarians and assistants such as Anne Morris and Rose Holencik provide something they call \”bibliotherapy,\” listening to visitors who need to talk and providing them with helpful books. It\’s where library users can create resumes and have them edited by the staff. It\’s a place where visitors are encouraged to bring home a couple of free books from the recycling shelves — a result of the generous donating public.\”
\”Yet it\’s also a place — like many community public libraries across Pennsylvania — that finds itself at a crossroads.\”
\”Pennsylvania\’s estimated 640 public libraries, branches and bookmobiles are at a turning point, largely because the Ridge administration is injecting an additional $32 million into the state\’s notoriously underfunded library system.\”
\”Though the bulk of the money is going toward increasing hours, training staff and expanding collections, some libraries have used it to open technology branches.\”
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