Anyone vaguely following the discussion on books and reading will come across posts like the rise of e-books, the demise of reading and the need for change in libraries. The latter is particularly poignant as libraries struggle to adapt to social media and become venues and experiences rather than… well, you know… libraries. The question is can we have a library without books?
Evelyn Juers knows where she stands, and writes in What is a library without books? that
Sydney’s Mitchell Library Reading Room should be kept as a place of books and readers and intellectual exchange, not transformed into a social hub
Is the problem that the use/usability/usefulness of libraries cannot (should not) be decided by popular majority opinion? Or is this just an opinionated paternalistic view of the world?
Collections by Wrote CC BY NC