The Internet has made traditional libraries obsolete

There’s an interesting serious of Letters in the Walnut Creek Journal. The City Council wants to build a $40 million library. Kenneth Hambrick says something we should all pay attention to: “…the Internet has made traditional libraries obsolete.” He continues:

“Even the University of Texas appears to agree with the obsolete theory as it is now converting its entire undergraduate library at the Austin campus to digital form and eliminating books altogether. The prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica almost went bankrupt before it finally acceded to converting to electronic form.
Unfortunately most library officials still think in terms of printed material. They resist the idea that the world has changed and that the Internet has been the vehicle of change for information resources. Yes, when I was at the university lo those many years ago, the only resources available for research resided in the libraries.“

There’s a previous letter from Deborah Dobbs who says “With Internet, a new library is not needed” and one from Barbara Branton who argues “spending money and resources to build a new library in Walnut Creek is top priority.”

Calling the downtown library branch a “disgrace” and an “embarrassment,” City Council members have unanimously agreed that a new library should be constructed with partial funding from general obligation bonds to be paid off through property tax assessments.

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There’s an interesting serious of Letters in the Walnut Creek Journal. The City Council wants to build a $40 million library. Kenneth Hambrick says something we should all pay attention to: “…the Internet has made traditional libraries obsolete.” He continues:

“Even the University of Texas appears to agree with the obsolete theory as it is now converting its entire undergraduate library at the Austin campus to digital form and eliminating books altogether. The prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica almost went bankrupt before it finally acceded to converting to electronic form.
Unfortunately most library officials still think in terms of printed material. They resist the idea that the world has changed and that the Internet has been the vehicle of change for information resources. Yes, when I was at the university lo those many years ago, the only resources available for research resided in the libraries.“

There’s a previous letter from Deborah Dobbs who says “With Internet, a new library is not needed” and one from Barbara Branton who argues “spending money and resources to build a new library in Walnut Creek is top priority.”

Calling the downtown library branch a “disgrace” and an “embarrassment,” City Council members have unanimously agreed that a new library should be constructed with partial funding from general obligation bonds to be paid off through property tax assessments.

Login required to read everything: [email protected] & lisnews1 will get you in.