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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

JCC Is It Time To Close The Libraries?

Discussion in 'Community' started by Narutakikun, Feb 6, 2013.

  1. Blithe

    Blithe Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2003
    . . .

    [face_plain]
     
  2. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    Blithe, no matter how hard you try, that is never going to be a thing.
     
  3. mrsvos

    mrsvos Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 18, 2005
    SHARK! Everyone out of the water!!!
     
  4. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    im getting curious about it tho
     
    Blithe likes this.
  5. Blithe

    Blithe Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2003
    There's still no reason to be rude.
     
  6. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    Blithe, champion of the downtrodden!
     
  7. Blithe

    Blithe Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2003
  8. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Now I'm sad, I didn't get a [face_plain] and I fully said "don't ask stupid questions" :p
     
  9. Blithe

    Blithe Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2003
    I just missed it apparently. Consider yourself [face_plain]ed
     
  10. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
  11. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    I think you miss the point. If we can close the libraries, then we can give the books to poor people, who can use the crumpled torn out pages to insulate their clothing on those cold nights spent sleeping in a cardboard box under the expressway on ramp. Hasn't anyone seen The Day After Tomorrow?
     
  12. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Not if they kept their intelligence
     
    Jabbadabbado, Ender_Sai and Blithe like this.
  13. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    While I have a Nook, and I do really enjoy using it, there is just something really great about holding a book in my hands and reading it from cover to cover that a Nook can't really do. I love libraries. I pretty much live in them.

    [face_clown]
     
    Valairy Scot likes this.
  14. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    thankfully i work at an academic library, so i guess i would be spared if this "close the libraries" agenda caught on.

    but also count me among the people who live in a community where the public library is popular and thriving, and offers a multitude of services to people of all ages . i guess maybe that's just the norm.
     
  15. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Yeah my local library is thriving too. But the Churches are a handful of old people and the odd overbearing born-again. If we're going to close things down...
     
  16. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Nah we need a place to keep the crazies at bay for an hour or so.
     
    eht13 likes this.
  17. Blur

    Blur Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 1999
    Disagree completely with the idea of closing public libraries. I use mine quite a bit, whether it's getting out DVD's, CD's, books, comics (specifically TPB's, etc.). It has saved me a lot of $ over the years, which is the whole point.

    Also agree that libraries are great resources for those who have nowhere else to go to look up info., or who need/want a quiet place to sit and read/relax, etc.
     
  18. Likewater

    Likewater Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 2009
    I don't think the cost of running a library is so prohibative it is necessary to shut them down. The fact of the matter is, tried and true are tried and true for a reason. Libraries survived the year without a summer, the sundering of the country in the civil war, the great depression, The Spaninsh Flu.

    the internet has yet to prove itself so resilient. Prepare for the worst hope for the best, don't put too much credit into "new media" untill it survives a "bad period". Especially since electraonic mediums arent known for their longevity.

    Want to cut something, we know what expensive sacred cows need cutting.
     
  19. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    phoenix arizona, **** hole of the cosmos, and here too, both the major downtown library and several local branches ive been to are quite busy
     
  20. AaylaSecurOWNED

    AaylaSecurOWNED Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    @Narutakikun's just taking the typical thoughtless knee jerk reaction to complaints of government overspending. Target expenditures that make up an almost negligible portion of the budget while providing verifiable net goods (particularly to the disempowered and impoverished) because he personally doesn't use it. (See also: attempts to defund public broadcasting.)

    There's obviously no critical thought behind the idea at all.
     
  21. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    Yep, I'm a school librarian. Thanks for the tag eht13.

    A few points:

    1. Restructuring public libraries to loan e-books which can be downloaded online, and answer reference questions on IM? Absolutely, but this is already being done gradually. It is possible that libraries will eventually go entirely online but that's a way off, as the issue of constantly changing digital formats and genuinely affordable e-materials needs to be addressed, and many people still prefer print books.

    Closing them altogether at any time? Hell to the no.

    2. I pay about 15 dollars for each hardcover book I order, not 30-40. Not everyone has an e-reader, and I agree that only the upper one percent believes that 70 dollars is "cheap." A local reporter did an article similar to Naru's essay in which she also added that she loved being able to download a book for "only" ten dollars.

    That's great, if you actually have ten dollars to spend on something other than food and rent.

    3. The idea behind public libraries is free information that is not controlled by private corporations. Prior to public libraries, the flow of information was controlled by the church; now, it would be controlled by the people and corporations with the most money. Any attempt to get me on board with eliminating public libraries would have to show a way around this particular problem. The Koch Brothers controlling my information creeps me out.

    4. As long as there is evidence based on studies in 19 US states and one Canadian province that the presence of a school library and a certified librarian increases student achievement (link later, I'm on my phone), my job is likely safe. But there is plenty of case for keeping public libraries open as well.
     
    JackG, darthhelinith, eht13 and 8 others like this.
  22. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    People have already said this more eloquently than I, but libraries have purposes as community centers that go well beyond just serving as a repository for books. Moreover, I think their role as a place where people can study, learn, and all that stuff is still invaluable. I never used the library space much as a kid -- but a lot of people did. I certainly made frequent use of it as a lending institution, and still do.

    The OP sounds like a modern day Theophilus.
     
  23. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    I'd know who that is if I bothered to go to the library.
     
  24. TahiriVeilaSolo69

    TahiriVeilaSolo69 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2002
    Sheer idiocy.
     
    Healer_Leona likes this.
  25. Lowbacca_1977

    Lowbacca_1977 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2006
    Electronic versions of books simply do not allow for the same level of experience for using a regular book. The ability to simply flip between widely separated pages is a big benefit of a physical book, and something I do routinely. It's something a screen doesn't replicate. I avoid PDF copies of books for that reason, I can't directly compare sections easily.

    I'd also like to point out a strong benefit of books is the ability to read them without this dependence on battery. I've never had a book run out of power before. Personally, I'm less the book sort than the magazine sort, and I frequently have a copy of a magazine (usually Nat Geo as it fits in a pocket if need be) with me so that if I have time to kill somewhere, I can read. I don't see something with a battery life that has to be maintained as having that same level of utility.