Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.
Monday, August 22, 2011
The library is not just a book warehouse anymore
by Frances Bula - VANCOUVER— From Saturday's Globe and Mail -Published
There is a teen lounge with Xbox gaming consoles and a big-screen TV, complete with chairs that look like oversized hammocks to accommodate the favoured semi-sprawl of the adolescent set. In another area, a seniors’ lounge with more traditional furniture next to a fireplace. A coffee shop. A long countertop for people who want to plug in their laptops.
Oh yes, and books. After all, this is a library – Surrey’s new central library, to be precise. But its 150,000 books will take up just half of the available space, the most obvious sign of the accelerating transformation of the library in the 21st century.
“Libraries are not book warehouses anymore, they are active places to find inspiration or knowledge,” says Surrey’s chief librarian, Beth Barlow. As a result, Surrey’s new library, slated to open next month, has scampered even further down the path that many public libraries have headed toward in recent years: community meeting ground and social hub. “It’s becoming that third place,” says Ms. Barlow’s deputy, Melanie Houlden, talking about the idea popularized by American writer Ray Oldenburg. His 1989 book The Great Good Place argued that “third places” – cafés, barber shops and bookstores, where people gather and talk separate from where they live or where they work – are the foundations of civil society. Full piece here.
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