Five views of the library's role in a rapidly changing world

摘要

Most librarians get their training in community development on the job. Maybe they have a chance to talk with colleagues about it at a conference or professional development meeting, but they don't get much formal training, and the literatureon the subject may not be well represented on professional bookshelves. People who think about, write about, or work at building communities see libraries as a valuable, if not always fully utilized, link. Mostly, community-builders applaud libraries, but they also see them from a fresh perspective, outside the profession. Here's what five such people--a prominent radio and television journalist, an advocate for children's and family services, the founder of the Communitarian Network, an author and social critic, and the president of a nonprofit civic organization--have to say about the tasks, challenges, obstacles, and opportunities that await libraries that participate in community-building efforts. Added material THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, AS SEEN BY: * A TV journalist. * A children's advocate. * A university professor. * An author/social critic. The head of a civic organization. NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY "PART OF THE PUBLIC REALM" By Ray Suarez Across middle-class and upper-middle-class America, the good life has brought a kind of amnesia. As our lot sizes get larger and community design more and more centerless, we're forgetting the pillars of a common life that got us here in the first place. One of the first places I got to travel by myself was the public library. So even while I was doing the work of becoming a lifelong reader and fulfilling my assignments as a student, I was exercising my muscles as a self-reliant citizen.