Comments on: Get Rid of the Libraries or Just the Books?

By: Dianne Gardner

Dianne Gardner — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:14:01 +0000

It’s wrong to assume that everyone has a computer. I know quite a few people who do not. Those people are not unintelligent. They read (books) and go to libraries. Talk like this and I see people wanting to make computer ownership a law. People can be so blind to the rest of the world sometimes.

By: I Like Books

I Like Books — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:42:09 +0000

Ever notice that if you find a good, informative article on the internet, when you check the references at the end of the article it will list a lot of books. Books enrich the internet. Even if you don’t use the library, authors that write for the internet use the library.

Of course, if the Wikipedia article references a dozen books, each three or four hundred pages long, only so much of that information can fit into an article of a half dozen pages. If that satisfies your research needs, fine, but some people need more.

By: annoyedlibraryworker

annoyedlibraryworker — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:43:43 +0000

Because Amazon has a way more sophisticated searching/tagging system that is patented and very powerful

By: Joneser

Joneser — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:19:11 +0000

I’m amazed at the times I’m not able to find something very simple and obvious on Amazon . . . it’s good for bundling a lot of stuff, but it’s not always very relevant.

By: Development Arrested

Development Arrested — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:41:10 +0000

I’m all for a better designed OPAC. Is there any real reason why it’s 1,000 times easier to find something on Amazon than it is to find them on an OPAC (even when the library has the book)?

By: Sarah Last

Sarah Last — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:00:11 +0000

I’m surprised Mr. Hageman has not suggested replacing librarians with robots. Or even better, just asking to destroy the books altogether and turn Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 into a reality.

By: Public Librarian

Public Librarian — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:01:52 +0000

George is describing the ideal environment for a lazy student. All the student needs to do is go to the designated librarian (for example, geography)and the librarian will do the deep database search and provide him/her with the needed books and articles. He evidently doesn’t think that people need to browse to have their creativity awoken, unlike the many writers and researchers who are complaining about NYPL sending their stacks off-site. I’d love to know if he told Harvard to off their stacks and put in a Starbucks.

By: Tired Librarian

Tired Librarian — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:40:32 +0000

Distasteful as this issue is to raise, why is Mr. Hageman describing books as “crusty”? Were they crusty when he signed them out, or by the time he was finished with them?

By: Bonnie Jean

Bonnie Jean — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:18:50 +0000

When the urban library became a haven for the homeless, it ceased to be as attractive for the taxpayer. It sounds cold and inhumane, but an honest evaluation by the consumer of library services will show this to be true. It is not the “fault” of librarians… it is simply social reality.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 19:14:09 +0000

Not all of us twenty-somethings are so vehemently anti-Library. Some of us like to read.