Here are extracts from a really fine recent editorial in Library Journal. It is by the editor, Francine Fialkoff who writes so wonderfully about books and reading.
The Book Brand
Libraries are the best community place for book culture to thrive
Years ago I heard Paco Underhill tell an audience of librarians to play to their strengths by plastering signs all over saying "we've got books—and they're free." That was back in the 1990s when we might have been trying too hard to put a little distance between libraries and the book culture with which they were most associated.
Happily, despite all the changes in libraries in the last decade or two, the library = books perception still resonates. We've seen the proliferation of book groups (in and outside libraries) and of the "one book, one community" programs. We've seen how new social networking tools, digital technology, and mobile apps can serve readers and reinforce the library-book connection.
And we've seen the community of readers drawn to libraries for author programs and for the entertainment, enlightenment, and just plain distraction that books provide. While the down economy has brought people back to the library, it has also brought many back to books.
Whatever else libraries provide, we would do well to remember Underhill's advice to proclaim the book brand and play it to the hilt. "We've got books, and they're free." Books are both personal and communal, and libraries remain the best community place for book culture to thrive.
You may read the full editorial here.
The Book Brand
Libraries are the best community place for book culture to thrive
Years ago I heard Paco Underhill tell an audience of librarians to play to their strengths by plastering signs all over saying "we've got books—and they're free." That was back in the 1990s when we might have been trying too hard to put a little distance between libraries and the book culture with which they were most associated.
Happily, despite all the changes in libraries in the last decade or two, the library = books perception still resonates. We've seen the proliferation of book groups (in and outside libraries) and of the "one book, one community" programs. We've seen how new social networking tools, digital technology, and mobile apps can serve readers and reinforce the library-book connection.
And we've seen the community of readers drawn to libraries for author programs and for the entertainment, enlightenment, and just plain distraction that books provide. While the down economy has brought people back to the library, it has also brought many back to books.
Whatever else libraries provide, we would do well to remember Underhill's advice to proclaim the book brand and play it to the hilt. "We've got books, and they're free." Books are both personal and communal, and libraries remain the best community place for book culture to thrive.
You may read the full editorial here.
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