The new American library
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Previous | Next | Table of Contents The concept of the library as just a place for books is long gone. Today’s library is now more broadly defined as "a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is (1) organized by information professionals or other experts who (2) provide convenient physical, digital, bibliographic or intellectual access and (3) offer targeted services and programs (4) with the mission of educating, informing or entertaining a variety of audiences (5) and the goal of stimulating individual learning and advancing society as a whole." (George M. Eberhart, Whole Library Handbook 4 [ALA Editions, 2006]) In 2005, there were more than 117,000 libraries of various kinds in the United States. Their impact is multiplied because most participate in cooperative arrangements, sharing collections, technology and staff expertise or leveraging economies of scale with group purchases. Also, state libraries play an important role in providing or supporting library services in all 50 states. In the past 10 years, libraries across the country have achieved a major success in that today, virtually all public libraries in the United States offer public access to the Internet. This success has brought increased demand, which many local public libraries struggle to meet, according to the study Public Libraries and the Internet 2004: Survey Results and Findings, funded by the ALA Office for Information Technology and Policy and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Eighty-five percent of public libraries report having insufficient hardware to meet peak demand, and only 48 percent are able to offer true high-speed connections, according to the study, which was released at the ALA’s 2005 Annual Conference. One effort underway to meet demand is to offer wireless Internet access and, in some cases, even provide laptops for in-library use. Nearly 18 percent of public libraries reported offering wireless in 2005, and another 21 percent plan to offer it within the next year. Libraries also are responding to patron demands for technology assistance and training. Unfortunately, half the nation’s public libraries also reported that their technology budgets didn’t increase from 2003 to 2004, while 13 percent reported a decline. Another study, A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century, from the National Center for Education Statistics, found that 30 million adults in America have below basic literacy skills, including seven million who are considered to be nonliterate in English. "These numbers remain too high," ALA President-Elect Leslie Burger said in December. "They represent just one of many reasons every community in America needs a public library." Ninety-four percent of public libraries serving more than 5,000 people provide literacy services, and 75 percent of public libraries partner with other agencies and organizations in their communities to provide adult literacy services. Libraries remain on the move in other ways. Bookmobiles marked a century of service in public libraries nationwide with a birthday party at the ALA’s 2005 Annual Conference. The event celebrated Washington County (Md.) librarian Mary Titcomb, who used a horse-drawn buggy in 1895 to deliver books to neighboring rural communities, thus beginning a service that continues today. In the aftermath of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, bookmobiles delivered books and magazines to hospitals and shelters, and not all the vehicles bore local license plates; the Anne Arundel County Public Library in Maryland, for example, donated the services of one of its bookmobiles to Hancock County, Mississippi, about 40 miles east of New Orleans. Another modern vehicle burst on the scene for the first time in 2005. StoryCorps, a national oral history project, sent two MobileBooths on a cross-country trek from New York City to record the personal stories of Americans from every walk of life. Along the way, StoryCorps is continuing to lure more and more libraries and librarians into the creation of this unique record, which will rest in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
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