The Case Against Public Libraries
I stopped going because I found that the Internet provided me with more useful and up to date information, and in a handier format than I could ever get from a library. I’m not the only one. Book borrowing is down; Internet use is up. And for those folks who still go to the library, the waiting lines are not at the book check-out; they’re at the Internet terminals… Maybe it’s time to turn the caretaker role of our society’s knowledge over to the people who already do it best: the private libraries.
Interesting…
From the SFPL’s site, in the 07/08 fiscal year, total circulation was 8,334,391, vs 7,685,892 the previous year. So not sure where he gets the conclusion that borrowing is down. New registered users are up, in-use visits are up, about the only thing down is reference questions. And as he observes, the Internet makes self-guided research easier. Which people appear to be doing AT the library. Unless he’s got his hands on the 08/09 data and not sharing it (the 07/08 is the latest on the SFPL website) I don’t think his conclusion bears out. Also, the Prelinger Library, while very cool, is open ONE afternoon a week plus occasional weekend days, and you can’t borrow the books. So…. not quite a replacement for SFPL, yeah?
if your home page is hosted on earthlink,
… do you even offer public internet use? re: the Prelinger library. and do they have any current magazines? newspapers?
there are many people who just want everyone to fend for themselves; they already got theirs and everyone else needs to get their own without their help.
Other than Blake’s love of “death of libraries” articles…
I honestly don’t see that this post–which, as Anonymous1 notes, is lacking in factuality–is worth posting. There will always be libertarians, and there will always be people who don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. And, you know, one little self-funded private library is surely a good replacement for 12,000 public libraries, as we can be sure Prelinger will never run out of money and can expand to handle everybody’s needs. Right?
I know in our county,
I know in our county, circulation is up at almost every library in the system. Everything is increased, book circulation, media circulation, program stats up, computer stats have skyrocketed…
To echo the other comments made, I don’t know where this author is getting their facts from. I don’t know what the library circulation stats are in other counties or cities, but where I live, library stats have increased by a fairly large margin. Besides, not everyone is as computer-savvy as the author of the piece. We get a lot of people coming into the library who have limited computer skills and need assistance to find jobs, create resumes, books on job searching, etc.
I work in CA and do have
I work in CA and do have access to SFPL’s 08/09 data….their circ was 9,638,160. still a hefty increase.
A Bit Elitist, no?
I found it interesting that he disparaged browsing at SFPL as “nostalgic”, yet he gushed over browsing at the Prelinger. Apparently, he feels qualified to set the standard of what is acceptable use of a library.
Public libraries are essential democratic institutions
While we were happy to welcome David to our library and always will be, we don’t agree with his words that “it’s time to turn the caretaker role of our society’s knowledge over to the people who already do it best: the private libraries.”
Our private library serves about 1,000 people per year, chiefly artists, writers, researchers and activists seeking to browse and reuse items from our collection of mostly obscure visual and textual materials. We’re delighted and gratified that they visit on our one to two open days each week, but it’s very hard to imagine serving even twice as many users.
Three blocks north of us, San Francisco Public Library’s Main Building welcomes many thousands of people each day, fulfilling a wide range of information and recreational reading needs that a platoon of private libraries, even if such a thing existed, could never satisfy. Yes, there have been and always will be things to criticize and issues to address about SFPL and any public library, and all libraries need to engage in a process of mindful evolution if they are to remain useful, relevant, and alive, but for now there is no substitute for a safe, wide-ranging, free public library system open to all. There is much in every public library that is not yet on the Internet, and the Internet doesn’t offer the services of trained, nonjudgmental librarians.
We consider our collection to be an independent, outsider library, and we maintain it because we love doing it. We believe our library exists within an ecoystem of many different kinds of libraries — it’s not a substitute for other collections or institutions, and we’re not trying to make an implicit statement that private or independent libraries ought to replace public institutions. Far from it. While we collect some materials and offer a few services that SFPL does not, SFPL delivers infinitely more to vastly more people than we ever could.
We hope that public libraries will flourish and serve many more users in many more ways, even as we experiment with what an independent library might become.
Rick Prelinger, co-founder