$39.5 Million Hi-Tech Library Opens In Illinois 98
The new $39.5 million Fountaindale Public Library features: flat-screen TVs, video games, self-checkout stations, a variety of e-readers, and a cafe. Library officials say the new facility is a blueprint for libraries of the future, and will focus on using new technologies. From the article: "The Fountaindale Public Library, with its state-of-the-art, Wi-Fi equipped space, is starkly different from the previous antiquated library, a nearby one-story brick structure built in 1975 that awaits the wrecking ball. Officials are hopeful the new facility attracts a demographic libraries haven't seen in a number of years — young professionals."
Re:Recession? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Recession? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hey, we got cash for new sports stadiums and missiles and what-not, why not libraries - at least they target generally lower-income people.
Edmonton moved to the "high-tech" libraries a few years ago, and the only complaint I have about them is the self-checkout, and that's just because I like librarians (the machines generally work just fine).
Videogames get kids in the door, at which point there's a chance they'll actually pick up a book. Ditto movies and music. Public wi-fi is a logical partner to libraries (open access, etc.)
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BUT as long as my dollars are involved, the product of my own sweat and work, then I will offer my opinion on the matter whenever, however, and wherever I desire.
If you don't like things like libraries being built, move to ... Somalia! The government free utopia you Ayn Rand fucks have been ejaculating too for years.
And in the future, if you or any other Politician tries to silence me, then I will remove him from office at the earliest opportunity because he is no longer listening to the Will of the People.
Haha, don't make me laugh with your threats. What are you going to do, make some more sockpuppet accounts on Slashdot and flame me? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO
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... that's just because I like librarians
Yeah, me too [ebaumsworld.com].
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only complaint I have about them is the self-checkout
But self-checkout lets you check out in Pirate [checkoutthemes.com]!
Okay, the necessary disclaimer is that that's my website, and I made the themes.
And, of course, they only work with ITG's machines, and I have no idea which self-check vendor your library uses.
Still, speaking as someone who was originally not sold on the self-checkout machines, especially when the edict from above was, "Make everyone use the self-checkout machines unless there's no other option." Once that got toned down, and I came up with the themes, they be
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why not libraries - at least they target generally lower-income people.
So do the missiles. Let's eliminate waste by cutting those redundant libraries!
I Can't Wait! (Score:4, Funny)
books secondary in some libraries and bookstores (Score:2)
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The funny part is my city library has all those amenities, is in a building far older than "antiquated 1975" and cost a heck of a lot less than $40M to add those amenities.
It really is kind of shocking to add up the costs of those exotic amenities, subtract from $40M, and see whats left. Probably about $39.5M
Re:Waste. (Score:5, Insightful)
I doubt it, in my experience most libraries fill far more than just the role of book repository. My local public library has live readings, local authors, numerous child programs (including some for infants and families), internet and computer access, study rooms, conference rooms, inter-library loan for those hard to get (and very much non-electronic) books, tutoring programs, etc... They fill both social and personal flesh-space needs centering around knowledge, information sharing, and learning.
And don't forget the almost-mystic power of a good librarian. Perhaps they could perform in a telework model if libraries do go the way of Blockbuster, but they'll still be needed as both public and private servants.
Re:Waste. (Score:4, Insightful)
>>>numerous child programs, tutoring
that's what videogames and school/teachers are for
If I had to pick between a good teacher and a good librarian, I'd take the librarian. The upside of spending your work day surrounded by books is that you tend to become well-rounded and well-informed.
Disclaimer: I spent a summer in my youth working in a library (upgrading the card catalog from Apple II to PC). You can't help but learn things in that environment.
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Bottom line I simply see nothing a library (or blockbuster) offers that can not be found in my ten-room home That's why I stopped going to the library or blockbuster.
FTFY. You'd be shocked to learn how many Americans still don't have Internet at home [census.gov], nor credit cards (or even bank accounts) to use on Amazon, nor basements and bedrooms with "fat recliners", nor can afford to buy every book they would pick up in a library. While you may like to imagine you're "normal", there are far more people living in one-room apartments with thin walls and loud neighbors. Your unsolicited individual habits are irrelevant and nothing you've "simply" said really matters in the discu
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Perhaps they could perform in a telework model
I think they're already doing that. Well, if askaway.info [askaway.info] is the sort of thing you mean. I guess that's Wisconsin's portion of the system, but libraries throughout the country are involved.
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What does a librarian do that google can't?
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Provide a place where you can actually meet real people.
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What does a librarian do that google can't?
Handjobs.
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now I get all my stuff from amazon (used market) or isohunt (theft) or official websites (legal)
Nice subtle troll, that's more like it.
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You need to pay the tax bills of someone making $125k/year or $250k/year, living in a high expense area, before you surmise that someone is rich, simply because they make a bit more than you.
Ignoring your stupid comment about taxes (as I don't suppose you have a greater than 100% tax rate where you live) then if you choose to live in a high expense area you really shouldn't complain about how much it costs. It's like saying "do you know how expensive it is running a Ferrari?" to a homeless person begging for change.
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Illinois is broke dot com [illinoisisbroke.com]
Space age libraries. Woohoo.
Yeah, who needs all that high-falutin edumication stuff? All this talk of having an educated population is just an excuse for wasteful spending to fund the fat cat librarians. Think of how that $39.5 million would have plugged the state's budget hole.
libraries (Score:1)
Is there really much point to non-collegiate / scholastic libraries in 2011? It seems like most non-print resources are available at home.
Re:libraries (Score:5, Informative)
Part of why we need libraries is a total failure of informational literacy. Many of the people we see today have no clue how to tell the difference between REAL and NOT REAL (hence, people who think World News Digest or Fox News are "real": they lack the skill set to determine what information has value and what does not.)
Libraries are also tremendous community and learning centers. We're really the center of democracy and freedom. We aid the local schools, the senior centers, the youth assistance groups, and provide training and access to job searching. A community without a Library is a community without a heart: it will wither, suffer and die.
Maybe one day a level of informational literacy will exist. Maybe one day it'll be taught in schools, from Pre-School through College/University. That day is not today, and not likely in this century. Modern Librarians are experts on finding information, and making sure it's good information.
Need to know more? Look up multiple resources on Informational Literacy. Just for an example: http://tln.lib.mi.us/searchpath/ [lib.mi.us]
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To clarify: Informational Literacy means ALL SOURCES. Currently, many news sources are guilty of reporting OPINION as NEWS. Fox News is extremely fond of this. MSNBC is as well.
Thank you for playing "let's miss the point entirely"
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Is there really much point to non-collegiate / scholastic libraries in 2011? It seems like most non-print resources are available at home.
I was thinking the same thing. Sadly, the last time I went to a library a sizable number of the visitors were homeless. I suppose they enjoy surfing the web and playing video games as much as the rest of us.
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Also, because a library is one of the last places where Everyone Is Equal. So long as you're well behaved, a library doesn't care who you are. Which is how it should be.
A favorite story of mine is a library system that tried to fix their "homeless problem", and so added rules prohibiting sleeping. Which lasted until the librarians kicked out a wealthier patron who was caught catnapping in one of the chairs. The rule was quickly revoked...
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I used to get annoyed by this homeless dude in the San Francisco public library at the Civic Center who would sit muttering to himself out loud constantly.
Equally annoying was the nicely dressed guy having an argument with his bank over his cellphone at the top of his lungs.
Moral: Homeless people haven't cornered the market on bad or annoying behaviour.
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Read all the monthly magazines you want, for free, in comfy chairs. The problem is most monthly magazines are not worth reading. They used to be, when I was a kid, or so it seemed. Remember the glory days of Scientific American?
Even the smallest most pitiful library has better genealogical resources than the best free online sites. Now if you're willing to cough up $150/yr you can get better access at home, but you may as well exhaust your free local library first.
Local collections. All my hometown new
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Hangout! (Score:1)
Maybe they'll be like the RCL (sp? the VFW equivalents that are like clubs for each city) in Australia because as much as I like coffee and gay boys I'm just not a fan of having to go to Starbucks as a place to concentrate.
That and my local library is in a township which is not up to par at all.
Oh thank god (Score:1)
Apparently they got that whole budget / bankrupt thing handled
Can doesn't mean should (Score:3)
Don't get me wrong, I like libraries. I use them fairly frequently too, actually. But the single biggest factor for me about a library is the number and quality of books. Wi-Fi is nice, though I have mobile internet with me most of the time anyway. Plasma screens usually just relay simple info that could be covered by a sign.
I don't want to disparage technology - but it's much less important than the books (and good chairs...).
Is it now time to get off your lawn?
Re:Can doesn't mean should (Score:4, Insightful)
The question is, essentially, "what is a library?"
Is it purely a book repository?
Or is it more of a cultural or information repository?
Because a good chunk of our culture and information these days is never printed out in a book.
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Even if you define a library as a culture and information repository, this library fails that test - because it's an internet access point, not a repository. A repository holds and conserves physical objects or digital data, this library does not.
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Even if you define a library as a culture and information repository, this library fails that test - because it's an internet access point, not a repository. A repository holds and conserves physical objects or digital data, this library does not.
I didn't read the fine article... But from the summary I was under the impression that the library consisted of more than a giant wireless access point. I thought it contained flat-screen TVs, video games, and a variety of e-readers.
And while it is true that these may all be provided on a bring-your-own-content basis... I had kind of assumed that the library would contain media to be used with those devices.
Wooooooooeeeee! (Score:3)
Flat screen TVs? Self-checkout? That makes it as sophisticated as... every grocery store in Bollingbrook.
That said, I think the reinvention of libraries from a book-storage facility to a community space devoted to being a platform for self education, ad hoc business, and community organizing is awesome. That, not the inclusion of teevee, is the point worth noting here.
What a money dump (Score:1, Interesting)
Ah, what, don't want it to be too convenient? Will infringe on the bookstore business? How about you take the gazillion dollars dumped on this library and award it to writers/e-publishers instead, maybe pro-rated per online interest in their books.
I frequently feel that the centralized commie ap
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I thought a professional was just someone who spent their mornings in the cafe reading a paper.
$39 Million (Score:2)
Power outages? (Score:1)
Do they just close? Do they have a UPS/generator system that will carry them over? Is there a manual system for those who simply want to check out an old-school dead-tree book?
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I wonder how they handle extended power outages.
Do they just close? Do they have a UPS/generator system that will carry them over? Is there a manual system for those who simply want to check out an old-school dead-tree book?
Businesses lose money during power outages hence exotic UPS and generator schemes.
Libraries save money during power outages... Especially if they "close for remainder of day" if there is a 15 minute outage at 2pm.
As far as the manual system goes, I recall several libraries that have no windows... So hand write a checkout slip if you must, but you'll be doing it by flashlight.
Nice to see money going to libraries (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess I'm a bit old school when it comes to libraries (nothing better than an old Carnige library building) so I'm a little dubious that televisions and video games should be there - they constitute a distraction from reading and research. On the other hand, it's heartening to hear that money is being put into libraries - they're an important resource. Technology for cataloging and checkout is certainly good, as a library full of books can be quite the resource management challenge.
I'm a little surprised they're unhappy about not seeing professionals - in my experience as people move to the young professional stage specialization means the local public library isn't likely to have what they need (specialized technical books tend to be a long shot, since only one in 1000 patrons will want it and that one probably would order a newer version through Amazon...). On the other hand, they're GREAT for young kids who will burn through a ton of books on a broad range of topics in short order. They're also good when you get towards retirement and don't need the intense focus demanded by professional careers - wandering into the library and picking up a random book for half a day is more practical then.
If they want young professionals(why?) they'd have to get a whole bunch of subscriptions (online, if nothing else) to paywall publications that people can't cheaply get at home via the internet. (One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30...)
Mod Up Parent (Score:2)
One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30
So true.
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One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30
So true.
Yes. I was very sad when my university finally got around to disabling my access to their proxy that let me read all the journal articles (took something like five years after I left before it stopped working). It really is amazing to me how much journals charge for individual articles. Unfortunately most public libraries don't seem to have subscriptions to many journals, so only those of us lucky enough to be connected to a university or have a really wealthy employer are able to actually read research art
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Most scientific articles aren't one off, but rather stand together with a body of work by the same author(s) consisting of several articles exploring broadly the same idea.
If you've found a promising article on a journal website, you can often get the gist of it from a similarly titled paper that the author published somewhere else or keeps on his website. Do yourself a favour and read that first, and you'll probably realize then if getti
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Partner with Coffee: Starbucks / Caribou / Etc ? (Score:2)
Libraries could use the extra revenue from coffee shops (heck it can be a local shop, not even a chain). Have several large desks where people can spread out work or homework and work in small groups... again, with coffee.
You'd be surprised how many more young professionals would spend hours in a library if they can get their caffeine addiction served.
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They did this when they built the new Salt Lake City main library a few years back. Along with some of the small shops in there, it seems to have worked pretty well.
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depends on what you want them to lean, just cause its evil doesnt mean its not knowledge
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You'd be surprised how many more young professionals would spend hours in a library if they can get their caffeine addiction served.
They tried that at my local library. Mostly attracted homeless, drunks, and teenagers, whom repelled more young professionals than the coffee attracted.
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In otherwords just build a cafe.
The Pirate Bay (Score:2)
rollerball (Score:1)
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Your argument makes no sense. The only reason books are tangible is because nobody has scanned them yet and converted/released them to electronic form (Google's working on that). They are really not any different from the latest Killzone 3, which thanks to modern copy-protection, is also not that easy to duplicate (hackers and crackers are working on that).
And they wonder... (Score:1)
why people are upset at government spending... a cafe? video games?
The library in Orange County, Florida will even deliver books/videos to your house...
This is beyond ridiculous.
Oh, look! (Score:2)
Borders [washingtonpost.com] has TVs now!