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December 31, 2008 Greetings from Chinatown, Philadelphia. (Maybe not the first place folks think of when pondering a visit to this historic city, but you'd be surprised. Philly's big Chinatown is packed with amazing markets, incomprehensible street signs, and at least three brilliant vegetarian restaurants.)
Chances are you've been hearing the bad news from here. The mayor needs to slash the budget. What more convenient target than eleven branch libraries in not-so-fancy neighborhoods?
Here's why this might concern you, no matter where you are: news this week from the mayor's office that, in the wake of public outcry, he's not exactly going to close all those libraries—instead, some of them will be repurposed into "knowledge centers."
Of course one of the most effective arguments against library closures is, What will this do to our young people? Mayor Michael Nutter's revised plan seems to neutralize that complaint—and, hey, he "pledged that free computer access will be at the heart of the new public centers."
Like, what more could a person possibly want, right?
Yesterday I heard a young mother express misgivings, albeit guardedly about the whole repurposing thing. "I'll miss the library. I guess this is the wave of the future and all that, but..."
The plan relocates an important afterschool program, now hosted by the libraries, to nearby recreation centers. And so on.
The latest is that a court ruling yesterday will require the mayor to run this idea past a few people before it becomes a reality. But let's keep an eye on this, shall we? If the mayor succeeds with his redefinition of what libraries should do and whom they should do it for, and if he saves a lot of money in the process, it's an idea that just might someday come to a city or county near you.
For now, I'm gonna unplug this computer and walk on over to the magnificent central headquarters of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Happy 2009 to you.
Philadelphia, repurposing libraries, and "the wave of the future"
December 31, 2008 Greetings from Chinatown, Philadelphia. (Maybe not the first place folks think of when pondering a visit to this historic city, but you'd be surprised. Philly's big Chinatown is packed with amazing markets, incomprehensible street signs, and at least three brilliant vegetarian restaurants.)
Chances are you've been hearing the bad news from here. The mayor needs to slash the budget. What more convenient target than eleven branch libraries in not-so-fancy neighborhoods?
Here's why this might concern you, no matter where you are: news this week from the mayor's office that, in the wake of public outcry, he's not exactly going to close all those libraries—instead, some of them will be repurposed into "knowledge centers."
Of course one of the most effective arguments against library closures is, What will this do to our young people? Mayor Michael Nutter's revised plan seems to neutralize that complaint—and, hey, he "pledged that free computer access will be at the heart of the new public centers."
Like, what more could a person possibly want, right?
Yesterday I heard a young mother express misgivings, albeit guardedly about the whole repurposing thing. "I'll miss the library. I guess this is the wave of the future and all that, but..."
The plan relocates an important afterschool program, now hosted by the libraries, to nearby recreation centers. And so on.
The latest is that a court ruling yesterday will require the mayor to run this idea past a few people before it becomes a reality. But let's keep an eye on this, shall we? If the mayor succeeds with his redefinition of what libraries should do and whom they should do it for, and if he saves a lot of money in the process, it's an idea that just might someday come to a city or county near you.
For now, I'm gonna unplug this computer and walk on over to the magnificent central headquarters of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Happy 2009 to you.
Posted by Bruce Jensen on December 31, 2008 | Comments (0)
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