
Tasman District Libraries manager Catherine Bryham wheels a trolley of books.Relevant offers
I always like to read positive stories about libraries in the media. Here is an article from the Nelson Mail.
Psst . . . there’s something happening at the library from The Nelson Mail [via Stuff]
Libraries no longer go by the book alone, but have embraced the age of digital information, as ALICE COWDREY discovers.
A teenager is leaning back in her chair, gazing intently at a computer screen. She is watching a clip of teen heart-throb Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) being interviewed by David Letterman on his Late Show. Next to her, a girl flicks from her Facebook page to a website displaying diamond rings.
It’s the dawn of the new library age and this scene is taking place all over the country – thanks to the advent of free internet access. It has helped generate increased foot traffic in provincial libraries and people are now looking at the library with new eyes.
Once stereotyped as a dusty time warp with dated carpet and surrounded in a sacred silence, the public library is now being promoted as a community centre, or living room, where people can not only read, but also chat (not whisper), use the internet free and even buy a coffee.
These changes are now happening in Richmond, with the town’s tired library undergoing a $2.2 million spruce-up that will increase the floor space by 59 per cent.
The new library’s vision statement says that the library’s “living room” will be the social heart of the venue, with spaces to relax, read, talk, email, watch TV or even just feel warm.
News will play on a television in the newsroom and there will be a small cafe, an outdoor courtyard with benches and a shade sail, a research room and a learning suite with computers. Perhaps the most hi-tech feature of all, however, will be the “multipurpose content creation pod” where people will be able to create audio recordings and multimedia oral histories, and digitise family records, photographs and other printed records.
The library’s vision statement says: “Future focused, the library will provide high-quality and rapid access to information. It will offer a range of innovative experiences and opportunities for people to connect with local and global communities.”
Every day, about 1350 people walk through the doors of the Tasman district’s four libraries in Richmond, Motueka, Takaka and Murchison. All are on a mission to boost their knowledge through a range of methods, whether picking over books, flicking through magazines or gazing at a chock-a-block noticeboard.
The Richmond Library has a dull mauve interior and is a bit disjointed at the moment. Some of the books are in storage while the renovation takes place and there’s a large plywood box where the library’s front entrance is being rebuilt.
Read the full article here.
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