Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Happy Warrior]

Chicago Public Library Commissioner Reacts to FOX Chicago News' Story

[Fox]

Hmm. I really enjoyed having a place to go where I could be surrounded by a vast quantity of books and was allowed to read them freely. I found my local Barnes & Noble in America to be a better provider of that service than my local library though; the chairs were more comfortable, the selection was wider (and they were just as willing to order anything I wanted as the local library was to have a copy transfered), and they had better amenities. They never really seemed to have a problem with me just sitting there and reading through entire books instead of paying for them (though I did buy my favorites). I do miss that very much (there are no good book stores in my town here); I know that isn't an exact response to your question, but I feel it's related, and if they hadn't been willing to tolerate my behavior, I'm sure I'd have spent time at the library instead.

I do think local libraries are quite important, especially since many people don't have the time or inclination to simply loiter in book stores, and as such being able to check out books is of great value. Libraries which provide other resources (such as access to language learning programs, for example, or the internet for people who might lack it) are also of great worth to the community.

[bacasper]

While I am greatly enjoying my life as an expat, I must I really, really miss the great libraries we have in New York. I used to spend a lot of time in them, and books were the least of it. You could also take out music, movies. Back when video stores were new and all the rage and people were paying $3 to watch a tape (yes, a videocassette), I'd go to the Donnell Library off Fifth Avenue and take out some awesome classic. (No, you could not get the very latest releases, but I preferred the classics.)

Prefer the big screen? Well, they had a feature film program in the theater where there would also regularly be free concerts of all types of music.

You could take out CDs and copy them at no cost if you returned them on time.

You could read a newspaper if you had time to kill. There were courses to take, you could work on your resume, and of course they had internet before it became ubiquitous.

I don't know about other places, but we have specialized libraries. The Library of the Fine Arts at Lincoln Center was incredible.

I'll stop here, but libraries just may be the thing I miss most. Thanks for the thread,

[bacasper]

Sorry, but I can't stop there.

Intimately related to libraries are librarians, some of the most awesome people on earth. We think of them as these matronly, ineffectual spinsters when nothing could be further from the truth.

Michel Moore tells the story about when he was notified that the publisher of his book Fahrenheit 911 was pulling out of its contract and burning the 50,000 copies they'd already printed because it was unpatriotic right after 9/11. They were even going to charge him for burning them.

Moore just happened to have a talk scheduled with a chapter of the American Library Association that evening where he mentioned his predicament. Afterward, some librarians in attendance got on their computers, began emailing others, and soon after the publisher changed its mind. Moore credits these librarians with getting his book published.

Then, every few years Congress gets on its moral high horse and decides that its child porn laws are not strict enough and passes another law placing unreasonable burdens on libraries (among other things), only for it to be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court a few years later. It is usually the ALA in an amicus brief opposing the law that is effective in getting the law struck down. As politically incorrect as it is to challenge such laws, these meek matrons of the ALA have some pair!

Gotta love 'em!