Thursday, February 15, 2018

Online Library San Diego Can They Replace Traditional Libraries?

By Scott Mitchell


Anyone who has visited the New York Public Archive understands the most basic elements of what is impressive about it. When you walk in, you feel both grand and small. This is a magnificent edifice dedicated to knowledge, ideas, culture, and creativity, which are all-as Maria notes-limitless. The article will discuss the issue an ode to Library San Diego public institutions.

Yes, it is true, many countries now have their version of online libraries and book sharing campaigns, like the UK, USA, Germany, Canada, Japan, India, Philippines and many more. The concept of sharing and borrowing books via the internet has been around for years and only recently has been modified and made better by the establishment of private and public bookstores that rent their books out for readers.

I'm sure one of them was there to read poetry or look at old maps, and I'm equally sure that someone was there just because she had no place else to go. Perhaps someone is on the verge of curing cancer or writing their first novel. Each one was in their universe of thought, of ideas, of creation. In the international development community, when we talk about participatory or community-based development, I'm not sure why libraries aren't at the tip of our tongues.

They are the ultimate expression of people defining and meeting their own needs. New York Public Archive was built with private money, and it is primarily maintained with private funds, as are many libraries in this country. Team Maria's Libraries has had the conversation about private donations many times, including doing a two-month research project on it this summer.

A patron would find the book she wanted in the catalog and write it down on a retrieval slip. The retrieval slip would then be put into a capsule which would be transported to the appropriate floor via what was then a modern vacuum technology. A porter would receive the tablet, and fetch the book. This system had the added benefit of giving rise to an urban legend: that the teams retrieving books travel around the stacks on roller skates (not right, I'm sorry to report).

Learning is for everyone, and we all have the right to get educated. Quality and updated books and references should be made accessible to people from all walks of life. Online libraries are bringing about this democratization by making it more convenient for people to access books and references. College students can now quickly search for specific textbooks and are given the option to rent them. Now, the question of whether online libraries can replace traditional libraries has been brought up by debating parties on opposite sides.

The tour of the NYPL is hugely inspiring; it was also both intimidating and affirming. While Maria has been working for 12 years and Maria's Libraries has been working for four years towards the completion of the archive in Busia, we continually realize that we're only just beginning. Since ML has been involved, we've spent two years working out our relationship with the government, two years settling the property rights issues on the plot of archive land, and now we've begun our negotiation process with the architects around the building plans.

It is not likely that any government will spend thrice as much on buying new books when they can encourage book sharing. Online libraries should not pose a threat to good old-fashioned libraries but must be taken as they are- an ingenious and practical way to read and learn. If the campaign for creating more online libraries and book sharing should prove useful, then we can still expect traditional libraries to be around, aided with this smart solution called online libraries.




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