Comments on: Libraries Still Have a Purpose

By: Sam Garcia (Ohana in Albuquerque)

Sam Garcia (Ohana in Albuquerque) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:01:51 +0000

Great post Susabelle! We homeschool our kids and they have new laptops, hi-speed internet, a Flip video camera, digital cameras and lot of geek toys, since their dad is a geek! However Mom takes them to the library regularly and they check out a stack of books. I opened my son's bedroom door recently, after knocking of course, hoping he would want to get online with me and watch some YouTube videos, or create one of our own, since I'm teaching him video editing, but what I found was him on his bed reading Shakespeare - from the Library. Know what I did? I told him I was proud of him and encouraged him to continue his reading. Every GNC Geek should take some time to go check out their local library soon. Nicely done Susabelle!

By: wpdunn71901

wpdunn71901 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:49:10 +0000

I agree Suse, But as i tried to comment on the earlier post, my local library has decided that instead of being a library and serving ALL of the community it wants to be the local rescue mission
children can no longer visit without a vigilant adult because several children have been approached by the homeless men,
we no longer have computers in use for patrons because of the vandalism,
to use the bathroom you have to go through 3 locked doors,
you cannot sit and read out on the patio because of the panhandling, mentally ill rantings and smell of urine and pot.
I WOULD love to have access to what you have, but i guess ill have to go over to the red cross to sit and read a book.

By: Eddie Savage

Eddie Savage — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:32:29 +0000

Methinks Maxsport has some blinders on. Computers are great, and I earn my living off of them, but nothing beats some quiet time reading a manuscript or novel in the solitude of our town library. Call it down-time, get away from the spouse for a bit, whatever....and I think Maxsport may find your local librarian is one of the last, true guardians of free-speech in this country. Maxsport conveniently forgets that the internet can be filtered, controlled and manipulated in both delivery and content (see China, or try to simply send me an email at my workplace: ain't gonna happen.). Libraries, by their nature, are open to all. Your mind rules; not the box on your desk. The only limitation is the availability of funds to keep them ahead of the intellectual curve, rather than at a reasonable parity. Plus, you can rent DVDs, and save money by not using NetFlix (not a slam against NF, just a personal finance tip)

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:42:59 +0000

Thank *goodness* for this … I was appalled at the prior post, and was saddened to think that even more people had bought into the fallacious notion that somehow playing GTA is as educational as reading Dickens. It isn’t.

Libraries matter because books matter. The ability to find loads of material of questionable authenticity on the internet has bred a generation of ill-informed and lazy kids who are increasingly illiterate and under prepared for the workplace or higher education.