Libraries as Social Hubs

The purpose of libraries is taking on a change. In addition to providing information, they can be just a fun place to hang out. Teenagers and latch-key minors hang out in the young adult section while they do their homework. Some local public libraries even have their textbooks there so they don't have to take them home from school. Academic libraries create floors of desks and computer labs so that "cram sesh"s can happen and 24 hour study rooms for those over-nighters. When I visited the Cal State San Marcos library last semester, I was amazed at the fact that they had like 700+ computers available and every floor had tons of desk space. There was a coffee shop. Libraries have taken a note from B&N, I guess. Regardless of whether it is a public or academic library, the purpose of the library is taking on a new tone. It is the place to meet up and study. Why take the book with you and go home when you might need another one later? Why not just finish the whole darned project there in one go? It's an interesting shift, and I think it's a positive one. Anything that encourages people to make use of the library has to be good, right?

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949571

Cathy Carpenter

Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America

Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 79-83

http://www.sciencemag.org.prozy.palomar.edu/content/339/6126/1382.1.full.pdf?sid=83a71d49-72a5-467d-abb7-b88f9526fc5a

Enrique Herrera-Viedma and

 

Javier López-Gijón

Science 22 March 2013: 1382. [DOI:10.1126/science.339.6126.1382-a]