"Libraries are limited, obselete" -- No sir, I beg to differ

Nathan Rinne, Media Cataloging Technician for the Educational Service Center (Maple Grove, MN), sent both me and the illustrious Michael Stephens a link to an opinion piece from the Lawrence, Kansas paper.  The author, Mark Hirschey, is trying to convince the local residents not to vote for a new downtown library.  Why?  Because apparently all information is online, and bringing equitable broadband access to all residents will do the same thing as having a library.

Michael Stephens has written an excellent piece about why libraries are important to all communities, and how they have lead the way in many cases for technology initiatives in communities. I can't compete with Michael's Top Ten lists (no one can), so instead, I'd like to focus on a few key points from this man's article.

First, to the author of the piece: when was the last time you were in the library, sir?  Did you bother to check your facts before writing your article?  Probably not.  My guess is that you, for whatever reason, have no concept of what a modern day library is like, and are instead functioning under the delusion that the library is still what it was when you went to school decades ago.

He writes: "Rather than speed access to reliable, up-to-date information, libraries provide only remote, slow and inconvenient access to limited and often outdated information."
Visiting the Lawrence Public Library's website, I find that they offer twenty online databases, offering full-text magazine and newspaper articles, among many other things.  In my experience, these online periodical databases have the latest issue of the magazine or newspaper even before it hits the shelves.  So, in this case, guess what?  The library is offering information that is more up to date than you can find anywhere else.  And 99% of this information is NOT AVAILBLE ON THE OPEN WEB.  You will not find this stuff through search engines or any other free source online.  The library is paying money for this awesome, up-to-the-second content so that residents can have access to it.

He writes: "The Internet is a gateway to unlimited data and information about government, business, and the community. Multiple information providers on the Internet make fact checking easy and reliable. No single person, such as a librarian, can or should be relied upon to verify accuracy. Single sources for information verification are inefficient and potentially dangerous."
The Internet is actually quite limited.  Only a small percentage of the world's data and knowledge is in digital format at all, much less available to the public at all, much less available on the open web to find through search engines.  That said, the Internet is a valuable tool that librarians use for research assistance every day...but it's just that: one tool in a toolkit of many other tools that your local librarians know about and want to share with you.  And fact-checking is something that you quite clearly did not do yourself, as you didn't even bother to see what your own library offered before tossing off an inflammatory and quite fact-deprived article.  So, your reliance on multiple internet sources for fact-checking is not sounding like a very valid point.  Finally, I will agree with you on your last point: single sources for information verification are dangerous. That's why librarians don't rely on a single source--we help you find multiple sources, and help you verify their validity and reliability before we recommend them as good sources.  Librarians do the very thing you are saying you wish they did. 

He writes: "Libraries are obsolete. Modern information technology involves two-way communication between providers and users of information technology. With instant messaging, blogs, message boards, and email, the Internet fosters information sharing among virtually unlimited numbers of information providers."
I have yet to see a library that is obselete.  Most libraries across the country have led the way in bringing these new technologies into the hands of their community members.  For example, your library is available via e-mail to answer reference questions (also by phone and in-person).  There is also a live tutor service available online through your library that will connect (for free) students with a professional tutor via a form of instant messaging to help them with their homework.  Sounds like the library is doing the very things you're saying it doesn't do.

He writes: "Rather than build an expensive new library downtown in the mistaken belief that such a monument to 19th century information technology will bring the community together, the city of Lawrence needs to consider the real advantages to bringing our entire community’s information infrastructure into the 21st century."
19th century?  Wow.  Your library offers downloadable audiobooks, videogame tournaments for teens, online library card applications, free wireless, free popular online magazines and newspapers, and free live online tutors for your kids.   I don't think you can get much more 21st century than that.

Like Michael, I really hope that this man's library writes a nice rebuttal to his piece and does some serious talking with its community to more accurately and effectively communicate exactly what it is that they are doing for their residents--which is quite a bit.  Good job Lawrence Public Library, for offering this wonderful array of 21st century library services.  And shame on this resident for writing (and the newspaper for publishing) an article full of misrepresentations and incorrect information, even if it is an op ed piece. 

The funny thing at the end of it all is that this gentleman is a perfect example of why we still desperately do need libraries in our communities--to provide access to the world of information and to teach the research skills that he so clearly lacks.