http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6705870.html
It’s pretty interesting to see 3 Virginia libraries on the list. Williamsburg and Fredericksburg regional libraries are places where there isn’t really a whole lot to do so the library is a good destination. Fredericksburg has a lot of new housing developments, with a lot of young families with kids, since people move there to commute to Richmond or the D.C. metro area. Falls Church is right in the middle of a ethnically diverse area in a very populous and rich county.
Sometimes I tend to hate rankings and lists because there are probably hundreds of better libraries out there that do things right that really matter. Every library is different and every community or regional library has different resources and needs.
Read this article today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-10-26-kindle-school-library_N.htm
Basically a private boarding school is eliminating most of their book collection and going all electronic with an ebook collection using Kindle. The old collection was barely being used so they believe this is better. I don’t really think it’s necessarily bad or good. I just think if the students were not using the library, the collection wasn’t being updated very well and the school curriculum and teachers didn’t make their students use it to learn how to do normal offline research. Not all libraries can be substituted for ebooks. Not everyone has a computer or kindle or ever will have one. Reading text on screens is not for everyone either. Do they seriously think Ivy league schools will eliminate their huge collection of books in which students actually use for research? That’s one dumb prep school.
I don’t see why they couldn’t of just kept the collection or go through and thoroughly weed it to create some extra space for the new amenities. I can see why it may be beneficial for leisure reading and required readings, since they can order and read the latest bestsellers or classics. It sounds like the library got popular because of all the other changes besides the switch to ebooks. They aren’t there for the ebooks so it doesn’t make any difference if it was an ebook or regular book.
