Space and the Social Worth of Public Libraries |
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| Authors: | Donald A Barclay |
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| Institution: | University of California Merced Library, Merced, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | In spite of the growth of digital information and the resultant questioning by some of the value of public libraries, library usage data indicate there were 497,600,000 more visits to public libraries in 2013 than in 1993. Why do people still visit public libraries in the digital age? While many factors drive people to visit public libraries, one thing that public libraries offer that cannot be duplicated online is physical space. Over the decades, library space has been the glue holding the library universe together even as the specific activities that take inside libraries have evolved. While public libraries do an excellent job of promoting their important role in providing access to information, educational resources, technology, and a host of valuable services, they must also promote the value of public library space itself. This requires more than trotting out numbers; it requires telling compelling stories of how public library space is used and reminding the public that the kind of spaces public libraries provide are, in fact, a vanishing resource. The post-911 tightening of security in public buildings of all sorts—coupled with the increasing privatization of what were once public spaces—has left public libraries as perhaps the last remaining indoor public spaces where an individual can remain from opening until closing without needing any reason to be there and without having to spend any money. Public libraries should promote the uniqueness of their spaces in much the same way that National Parks promote the unique spaces they preserve and make available to the public. |
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| Keywords: | Public libraries library space public library visits value of public libraries |
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