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.
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