Week 15 Reading Response

Last class! I really enjoyed all of the presentations, and thought everyone in class did an excellent job. I hope I get to see everyone in future classes over the next two years here at SLIS.

As far as presentations go, I thought it was fascinating to see the juxtaposition of the big box book store and the urban library groups' presentations. Some of the book store-like changes Steve Coffman suggests in his article seem to directly oppose the recommendations made by the urban library group on how to improve and democratize large public libraries. For example, removing the computers from a library, and the librarians who teach people to use them might save costs, but it would deprive many library patrons of their only means of using the internet. As the urban library presentation pointed out: this would affect more than just individual users, because the person who comes to the library to use a computer is often doing it on the behalf of many members of their community. I tend to agree with the big box group that although in small ways (making the library more comfortable for reading) making a library like a book store is positive, in big picture ways, libraries should keep their traditional role in the community. The urban library group also brought issues to my attention, such as homeless people's use of the library and their particular needs.

Week 14 Reading Response

Second to last class, and the first day of presentations. It seemed that these presentations covered interesting topics, but ones that are slightly less controversial than those that will go on the 15th. The e-reader presentation was interesting, and confirmed my preference for the Barnes and Noble Nook over other readers (I bought one just a few weeks ago). In a similar vein to Week 12's reaction, the group brought to my attention the ability of e-readers to help people with learning and physical disabilities navigate and understand a book. I also like the mention of the difference between what you think your rights are as an e-book purchaser and what they actually are. An e-book can be bought and read, but not lent (at least, not freely under all circumstances) or sold. This seems to reiterate my point from the intellectual property readings a few weeks ago: today's copyright law is not equipped to deal with modern technology.

The other presentation, one city one book, really caught my attention. It does seem to be a good idea, having a whole city read a book, but I'm not sure if the utopian idea is unrealistic: are a majority of people really going to read and have intelligent conversations about a book that a city group suggests to them? The presenting group demonstrated that although considered successful in some cities like Seattle and Chicago, in other cities it fails overall, such as in New York. Also, the goals of the program confused me a little. Yes, a citywide book read might encourage people to consider ideas or viewpoints they might have otherwise. But the goal of promoting literacy seems suspect. Are people with no or limited reading skills going to accept the challenge of plowing through an adult reading-level book? That seems doubtful to me. One city one book is a good idea in some respects, but in terms of promoting literacy, librarians should look to spend their time and money in a more useful way to help illiterate and barely literate adults gain and improve reading skills.

Week 13 Reading Response

There is so much I could discuss about Louise Robbin's book, The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown. Overall, I really liked how Robbins integrated so many different elements and occurrences into a comprehensive narrative. She considers the state of the community of Bartlesville, what was happening in the community and the nation in terms of anticommunism/McCarthyism, racial segregation and racism, and the place of women in the community, and describes how all of these different factors fit into Ruth Brown’s life experience, such as her ability to make more waves after her foster children were on their own. She provides a comprehensive view of the circumstances surrounding Ruth Brown's dismissal so the reader can understand all the various factors that contributed to it.

This reading dovetailed nicely with my group project for this class: book banning and censorship. I really enjoyed the way Robbins illustrated the development of the principle of intellectual freedom in libraries in a specific case such as this. It astonished me to read on page 59 that a library commission recommended that "questionable material" be removed or severely restricted, at least until the opposition died down. It was also around this time, though, that the ALA began to more strenuously support intellectual freedom and condemn censorship. Without the historical circumstances in the mid-twentieth century, the profession of librarianship wouldn't be recognizable today.

Another element of the book that caught my attention was the strong association in many people's minds between communism and racial equality. Both of these movements had the potential to severely disrupt people's every day lives, which many people feared and fought. What worries me, however, is similar associations I see being made by some highly conservative groups today. While in the 1950s, some people believed that racial equality was a threat to American democracy, today it seems some people believe that Islam is a threat to America's (supposed) Christian heritage, or equality of sexual orientation is a threat to American family values. Perhaps these ideas will never reach the magnitude of segregation, or the McCarthy witch trials. But any threat to freedom of speech and choice in this country is worth fighting, no matter how small. Every day, librarians face challenges to the materials they offer, and we must remember to remain strong in our opposition to censorship. Intellectual freedom is now a central value of the library profession, and like Ruth Brown did, I hope to uphold that value no matter the consequences.

Week 12 Reading Response

This week's blog post is less of a reading response than a video response. I haven't yet had the opportunity to take an online class, so I liked having this small introduction to asynchronous learning. The videos also brought up a lot to think about in terms of the present and future roles of the library. The first video, "The Future of the Academic Library" covered a great many topics. I chose to focus on one that coincided with one of the readings for today, "The Library as Place." One of the points made by the presenters in the video was that the role of the library is changing in modern times, and the physical space of the library should change accordingly. Rather than the library as a repository for endless shelves of dusty books, they should be reconfigured as learning commons or "infocommons" in order to serve users' needs.

The article on the physical construction of academic libraries made a similar point. Students and faculty today look at the library as a one-stop place for learning and researching needs. I can vouch for this from experience. I work at the reference desk in Memorial Library, and several times this semester I have answered phone calls during which a student asks where they can find a tutor, or get help writing or formatting a paper. They expect the library to offer these services, but I have to send them to various places across campus. Perhaps it would be better for libraries to become more integrative, and create space for different services besides merely providing access to books.

I can't say that I know what the ideal future library will look like. But it is obvious that libraries are no longer only a storage space for books. In my future career as a librarian, I hope to work with agencies such as the Council on Library and Information Resources, as well as library users of all types, to create a library space which is dynamic, integrative, and service-oriented.

To conclude, I would like to mention the other video. I found the video about the issues surrounding the kindle study to be very thought-provoking. I personally do not have any particular disabilities, and do not know anyone personally who does. It is easy to forget that some people do have disabilities and need differently accessible products, but this course has helped me to remember this issue. As a librarian, I hope to always be aware of the different abilities of my patrons, and to work to provide all the information the library provides to them in an accessible format.