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Okay, so I miss the old library. The one where you walked past the big, stately desk with the sole older, staid librarian who would "shush" you. I miss the card catalog and long tables with chairs and reading lamps and the studious, quiet, reverent atmosphere. Mostly, though, I miss the little study stations that lined the walls near with windows; where did they go and why? Now you walk in, and kids are running wild. Clerks are sitting around chatting and laughing at the front desk, there are banks of computers where people are talking aloud, including on their phones, and the "study" areas - which used to be private cubicles on the periphery, are now big comfy chairs arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, visible to everyone, mostly occupied by the local homeless population whom you're facing in close proximity if you sit in one. I realize that you can reserve a little dark, locked room if you want total privacy and quiet, but that's such a production and seems like overkill. I sometimes consider dropping my home internet and using public Wifi there instead, but it just doesn't seem conducive. When and why did libraries change from islands of contemplation to public squares and noisy all-purpose gathering places?
Cost reduction controls the design of modern libraries. That means as few staff as possible and an eye toward liability. That old big desk or circulation counter is now replaced with a central admin area somewhat resembling a machine gun nest where the staff stand guard. Sight lines are important to be sure that nothing unpleasant is taking place in the stacks or the teen area or in the kiddy department. Policing the computer bank is a daily concern. Urban libraries have become the day care center for the homeless. Many are walking wounded or unstable. Many libraries are the after school waiting room for kids waiting for parents after work. Policing has become a concern. There might be security cameras. Programming like story hour or literacy programs have to have a dedicated space. Some libraries will have community meeting rooms. At least one or two staff need to be bi-lingual. Modern "Librarians" will usually need to have a masters degree (MLS) and might account for one or two of the staff in a branch. The rest will be circulation clerks or pages. In some cities the clerk staff might be contract rather than employees with full benefits.
Cost reduction controls the design of modern libraries. That means as few staff as possible and an eye toward liability. That old big desk or circulation counter is now replaced with a central admin area somewhat resembling a machine gun nest where the staff stand guard. Sight lines are important to be sure that nothing unpleasant is taking place in the stacks or the teen area or in the kiddy department. Policing the computer bank is a daily concern. Urban libraries have become the day care center for the homeless. Many are walking wounded or unstable. Many libraries are the after school waiting room for kids waiting for parents after work. Policing has become a concern. There might be security cameras. Programming like story hour or literacy programs have to have a dedicated space. Some libraries will have community meeting rooms. At least one or two staff need to be bi-lingual. Modern "Librarians" will usually need to have a masters degree (MLS) and might account for one or two of the staff in a branch. The rest will be circulation clerks or pages. In some cities the clerk staff might be contract rather than employees with full benefits.
^^THIS is an apt description for our region's libraries^^
Many of the new branch libraries in our county system (Cuyahoga) and City of Cleveland have gone to this typology. They are basically a combination, community center / meeting space/ childhood learning / drop off daycare space. Some get a designation (County regional) for an area of specialty and can be exceptionally good if you are doing certain type of research, but the majority of newer ones are a glorified combination of lots of cubic space for sitting, reading the few periodicals, recent literature releases and dvd collection place along with community rooms for events. One of the newer regional ones has a top grade auditorium connected to the library for performances /speakers.
Personally, I like going to our historic Beaux Arts grand dame downtown. It still has stacks and I can usually find most everything or have a librarian go retrieve something from the upper floor storage. If you are ever in Cleveland it is a definite stop to visit simply for its architecture. You'll like the old photos in link. Perfect place to be Burgess Meredith, a la classic Twilight Zone episode, "Time Enough at Last".
The fifth photo is what OP's description reminded of when I first experienced this grand reading hall in my youth. All it needs is Shirley Jones, a la The Music Man, as Marian the Librarian....
Not sure how much the college and university libraries have changed at the institutions I attended, but have fond memories of cramming for finals - falling asleep and drooling on self, - and perusing the massive compilation of journals of all manner of areas of study on the fourth floor amongst the massive stacks. Checking out university libraries itself can be fun if you can get access nowadays. When I travel I occasionally check out historic universities libraries.
Cost reduction controls the design of modern libraries. That means as few staff as possible and an eye toward liability. That old big desk or circulation counter is now replaced with a central admin area somewhat resembling a machine gun nest where the staff stand guard. Sight lines are important to be sure that nothing unpleasant is taking place in the stacks or the teen area or in the kiddy department. Policing the computer bank is a daily concern. Urban libraries have become the day care center for the homeless. Many are walking wounded or unstable. Many libraries are the after school waiting room for kids waiting for parents after work. Policing has become a concern. There might be security cameras. Programming like story hour or literacy programs have to have a dedicated space. Some libraries will have community meeting rooms. At least one or two staff need to be bi-lingual. Modern "Librarians" will usually need to have a masters degree (MLS) and might account for one or two of the staff in a branch. The rest will be circulation clerks or pages. In some cities the clerk staff might be contract rather than employees with full benefits.
Your first sentence definitely explains the last one, but:
Clear sight lines and community meeting rooms were standard features of the thousands of libraries Andrew Carnegie built all over the United States between roughly 1900 and 1930, including about 30 of the 54 neighborhood branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
You can usually tell a Carnegie library by several architectural features. The most easily spotted one is a symmetrical design, with a center entrance roughly half a floor above the street flanked by pedestal lamps. The main reading room and stacks, usually a large open space, are another half flight up once you're inside, and the community meeting room is usually in the basement.
ADA requirements have added ramps to those entrances and wheelchair lifts to the inside stairs.
Our library has events featuring little projects for adults to do constantly. Crafty things. And a big table with Legos in the children's area. It seems to be about anything BUT reading books these days. But apparently they have to lure people in, or they'll go out of business, and if people don't read anymore, you gotta do what you gotta do! I'd just rather have my own little side cubicle for using my laptop there versus having to sit around a big circle with the homeless population, some of whom are "off their meds"...
Okay, so I miss the old library. The one where you walked past the big, stately desk with the sole older, staid librarian who would "shush" you. I miss the card catalog and long tables with chairs and reading lamps and the studious, quiet, reverent atmosphere. Mostly, though, I miss the little study stations that lined the walls near with windows; where did they go and why? Now you walk in, and kids are running wild. Clerks are sitting around chatting and laughing at the front desk, there are banks of computers where people are talking aloud, including on their phones, and the "study" areas - which used to be private cubicles on the periphery, are now big comfy chairs arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, visible to everyone, mostly occupied by the local homeless population whom you're facing in close proximity if you sit in one. I realize that you can reserve a little dark, locked room if you want total privacy and quiet, but that's such a production and seems like overkill. I sometimes consider dropping my home internet and using public Wifi there instead, but it just doesn't seem conducive. When and why did libraries change from islands of contemplation to public squares and noisy all-purpose gathering places?
This is interesting. There are 3 libraries in my town. Even the newest one has characteristics you attribute to the old-fashioned ones. All 3 have computer desks in front of a huge window-wall, where people work quietly. One has what could be described as a "lounge" area with comfortable chairs for people to sit in groups, but patrons are required to be quiet. That area is rarely used, though. All of the libraries are quiet most of the time.
Two have a separate room for grade school kids, where a librarian presides to keep the kids under control, and provide help. The kids' room has its own set of computers. Only in the new, modern one did I see kids sometimes screaming or crying in the large entry hall. Parents sometimes drop them off in the summers, treating the library as a baby-sitter, even though they're not supposed to.
The downtown one is the one the homeless use, but they're at the computers (there's no lounge area in that one), and computer use is limited to one or two hours. There's no kids' room, because it's not in a residential area. At the new one, other than the issue of kids getting dumped on it in the summer, the only somewhat noisy time there is during after-school hours, when middle-school and high school kids are on the computers doing their homework. They're quiet, but sometimes other teens show up to visit with their friends at the computers, and it becomes a social hour. This is tolerated by the staff.
I've used the libraries in other cities and states when I travel; all maintain a quiet atmosphere. Only the downtown branches have homeless people, and they're in the computer section. All have a big desk at the entry where the staff are working, and are available to respond to patrons' questions. They also hand out user codes for non-members to access the internet on the computers. Kids do not run wild. Staff do not chat and laugh among themselves; they have work to do.
There's a library in the Denver area, that has a coffee shop off to the side of the big staff desk at the entry. That seems to be a way to corral the people who want to socialize, leaving the rest of the 2-story building as a quiet zone. The coffee shop seems like an interesting innovation. It's a popular meeting place.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 12-04-2022 at 07:10 AM..
That's a good point! Our ONLY library (small town) is downtown, and yes, homeless people abound even here. They actually abandoned the beautiful historic original building to build a bigger modern one to accommodate all the computer stations, lounge areas, and activity rooms. The old one was for books, readers, studying, and contemplation. How passe!
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