Public Libraries : Are They Still Relevant?

Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady of the United States, had many accomplishments during the Roosevelt years in America. She was a social and women’s activist who used her words to change the minds of people in America. One of the many things she took the upper hand in was education. Eleanor Roosevelt carried deeply about the education of American citizens and this is learned through her emotional and logical appeals in her famous “What Libraries Mean to the Nation” speech.

There are an almost 120,000 libraries in America. Libraries are the foundation of the knowledge ecosystem within the U.S. There are different resources available, from books to DVDs, which patrons can easily borrow. In fact, the available nonfiction printed materials will also include hard to find academic and research publications.

Everyone has been or at least have known someone who loves reading books. Books have been around for centuries and centuries providing knowledge and entertainment for many people around the world. Although many have access to books to read “there are so many places in the United States that have no libraries and that have no way of getting books” as stated in Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech What Libraries Mean to the Nation. Roosevelt delivered this speech at the District of Columbia Library Association dinner. Many would say that they are lucky to not have to read books, but are they really?

The graph demonstrates the upward and downward trends in the number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public Library between 2011 and 2014.

Davis gives the reader an overview of what is to be expected in the article including library statistics for the year from public and school libraries and methods currently being used in libraries. The author does not want to limit the research to only one type of library by separating the libraries by academic and public will show the differences in what effect eBooks have had on

Many people in Muskegon do not have computers, printers or internet access at home. They rely on their public library. Students without home computers rely on the library for class work when school is closed. Adults rely on the library’s free public access computers for job searches and applications, resumes, college class work, small business startups, social security and social service contacts, medical records, email, leisure interests and much more.

Over the last few years the libraries patrons have been coming into the library looking for their additional services they provide other than the main function which has been print lending. According to an article in the Library Journal, which reference the circulation of print materials versus audio-visual materials “despite constituting only 7.6% of the “total adult holdings”, DVDs accounted for almost 60% of the circulations of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library”. The library now offers many more services such as video games, DVD, Blu-Ray, music, computer use, and Internet. These services are increasing the amount of circulation and number of people through the doors, but this is telling that majority of patrons are looking for the audio-visual materials of the library. Frequently, patrons arrive at the library not sure what they want to read. They spend a few minutes walking around trying to make

Libraries encourage reading, spread ideas that ultimately create a social unity. In fact, libraries have been found in the 1730s by Benjamin Franklin. He believed libraries would be a place to access and share information. (Source A) No matter the changes societies are going through, libraries are still developing. This simply gives the hope that even our future would hold libraries to serve a role in education. Libraries also stimulate reading

Libraries have been around a long time. Almost every town has a library. People do not use libraries in the same ways that people in the past have used them. In many ways, libraries have changed over the last few decades.

Los Angeles Public Libraries serves over four million people, the largest population of any library system in the United States. In 2013, over fourteen million people visited the library and borrowed roughly fifteen million items. With a diverse patronage the clientele consists of children as young as preschool, kindergarten to twelfth grade, college students, adults, veterans, and senior citizens. It is the diversification that the libraries refer to when implementing services to ensure that customer needs are met.

Since their establishment, libraries have served as a gateway to knowledge and services that revolutionized the way the public attains information. Unlike many other institutions, public libraries have grown and evolved along with society by adopting new technology and offering resources tailored to the needs of their local community.

This paper analyzes the current situation and institutional structure of the Chicago Public Library system in the light of current research of mission, vision, and value statements. A literature review on organizational mission, vision, and value statements reveals that the consensus of the field is that organizations benefit from articulating mission, vision, and value in separate statements that are drafted with organizational stakeholders first and foremost in mind. The current Chicago Public Library mission statement does not fully meet these criteria, and this paper presents new mission, vision and value statements for the institution that focus on the information needs of their users while addressing the specific strengths and

There’s something about a public building that doesn’t always feel public. A gym is often public, but it’s very hard to feel comfortable there as just anybody. Morton has always been well known for having people judging on irrelevant things that don’t really describe a person. I hear parents, children, grandparents all passing judgement on things that don’t matter in the scheme of things. I’ve always felt you should ignore many things about people as long as they 're good people and nice. This opinion is not shared everywhere you go in Morton, however I’ve seen interesting characters come to Morton Public Library in my years of going there. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they’ve done, they’re always welcome there. People, technology, times, and general life changes have affected the library, and the library has stayed strong throughout it all with a welcoming environment.

Taking children on field trips to their nearby library to teach them about the system is very important. They can later get their personal library card and return to rent out a book they wish to read. This is a way to promote out of school reading.

“The Future of Libraries in The E-Book Age.” NPR, NPR, 4 Apr. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135117829/the-future-of-libraries-in-the-e-book-age. Accessed 1 Mar. 2017. In this article, Lynn Neary writes of the struggle libraries are havinh in battling technology as it progresses. The uprising of e-books, has left libraries somewhat ignored; until places such as Harper Collins publishing co. put a limit on how many times an e-book can be rented. Several pros of e-books are: when it is overdue it disappears from the device without any extra charge; and if it is loaned to someone, the copy is still on your device. One fear is that libraries are becoming obsolete and eventually, publishers will no longer be making money – thus authors will make even less from their works. Eli Neiburger thinks libraries could deal straight from the source: content providers. People would be forced to go through the library and the author/artist would get more money out of that. Libraries have always been the quiet thinking place, but if they are to survive, they must make changes to accommodate the uprising of digital novels and