According to information presented to the Library Board, over the past four years the Monrovia Library has experienced a 43 percent decrease in the number of adult materials checked out and a four percent decrease in children's materials checked out. Even computer usage in the library is down 29 percent. http://goo.gl/VZKazD
Comment: I love libraries, and I use ours (I've been getting the adventure novels of Hammond Innes from the library and loving them), but for better or worse this seems to be the wave of the future. E-books are so easily and cheaply available for electronic devices that buildings to house books are less and less necessary, and electronic devices are now so cheap that even going to the library to use a computer is unnecessary for more and more people.
- Brad Haugaard
It doesn't help when you have to walk through a gang of homeless drunks to get into the library.
ReplyDeleteLike every other business the library has to adapt to the changes in the culture. Electronics are a big part of American life. They are not going away. And, yes, it is much easier to download a book from the library then drive over to get it, hence the increase of e-book circulation. Eventually all libraries will need to rethink their model.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see computer usage steadily going down. Seems every time I go to MPL all of the computers are occupied.
You're right- this library has always got people either on their computers or on their own computers.
DeleteWhat this author failed to mention, while going off on a tangent about cheap electronic devices, is that this library offers free wifi. Guess it was easier for him to throw out numbers on lower library computer usage without actually doing some research or taking the time to fully comprehend what he was looking at.
This is 100% related to the homeless in the park that the city has done nothing about. We avoid that area and haven't been to the library in a couple of years after getting harassed there. Used to go quite frequently.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, children's circulation has gone up. Apparently, families are starting to return to the library. I have been to the library a couple times a month over the past six years and have never been approached by anyone. I tend to agree with Brad that it is more the result of the advent of the smart phone and tablet age.
ReplyDelete