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Whats so great about libraries? Seems like a very inefficient way to store/disseminate information in 2018
If I remember correctly our library served as an example when designing Oodi library in Helsinki since it portraits a "new library style" municipalities are reaching for.
The goal was to get people to stay there instead of just fetching the article they were looking for. I think they achieved this since no matter when you visit the place is backed with teens reading and discussing about some manga or comics, elderly reading newspapers from around the country, poetry reading groups and so on.
Since I mainly consume my literature via outlets like HN, I use the library primarily to get books for my young kids. Even those facilities are great, there is a play area with tunnels and holes in the walls where kids can read in solitude, isolated reading "enclosures" where groups of kids can flock to when some adult reads for them and lots of other neat details. They even film some kid shows in there and the last time I visited I found out they have a good catalogue of new console games you could borrow!
This might have sounded like an advertisement but the point I was trying to make is that if someone would ask me what is the best thing our city has accomplished with our tax money, my answer would be "our library". And as everything is digital nowadays, making an effort to get people off their phones to socialize and use narrative in its original form doesn't hurt either.
Whats so great about libraries? Seems like a very inefficient way to store/disseminate information in 2018
Inefficient? Hardly. A book in paper form is considered by many people to be superior form of digesting complex information.
Secondly, a library contains a) librarians that help you find what you need b) huge curated collections of books, carefully categorized c) the categories themselves! One might learn something new by just investigating what categories of knowledge there are.
Libraries are the analogue manifestation of the entire body of knowledge humankind has collected over millenia. In the past there were these silly VR interfaces in movies where the person could dive into information and find what they were looking for by diving in a sea of information. Well, that place exists in the every manifestation of a proper library adminstered by trained informaticians, and the physical shape of the thing is designed to help one find and digest knowledge.
Well, library budget cuts are not unheard of in Finland either. The biggest cuts occurred in the big depression that hit the country in the early 1990s, and spending has never reached the same levels again. That said it's easy to believe that libraries are still better than in many other countries. They remain free, where others have introduced fees for the library card or for computer usage. A bit of background: Fin…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, Facebook is a more efficient way to spread especially false information.
The exact same books are available electronically nowadays, and are likely to be more up to date than a paper version. Building a library won't make anyone stop reading facebook drivel.
Whats so great about libraries? Seems like a very inefficient way to store/disseminate information in 2018
Whats so great about libraries? Seems like a very inefficient way to store/disseminate information in 2018
I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have cards with the state library, Melbourne city libraries, yarra city council libraries, and a membership with a small private library also in the city. Firstly, books are still superior to e-readers (which i have and use), and far better than trying to read on a screen. I'll always get the physical copy if i can, and there's still a large number of books which don't have electroni…