Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Mon, Nov 03 2003
Just Open The Door And Let Me In: I Can Find It Myself!
Let me get this straight. The state of Florida thinks forbidding folks to just browse the circulating collection will actually increase circulation? Scholarly researchers will be exempt? Who determines exactly what a "scholarly researcher" is? Those of us who write spend long hours researching locales and history. And we sometimes don't research everything in a strictly logical fashion. We need the freedom to allow one researching point to bounce us to another point. Is this "no browsing" policy a trend in states? Is it a budget problem?
I visited a wonderful public library in Gadsden, Alabama a few years ago, and although we were asked to sign into the Genealogy Room, no one asked us to give them a list of exactly what we wanted to find. Library patrons chatted freely in the Room, and we shared information and knowledge of resources, and often exchanged email addresses and surname lists. The only time we were approached by a paid library worker was when one popped his head in the door to ask if a particular car belonged to anyone in the room because its headlights were on.
I think the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Issues page might be a good one to keep an eye on. And maybe we each need to spend a lot more time in the library putting those citizen-owned resources to work for us before those citizen-elected officials find new ways to make access to information more and more difficult to obtain.
posted at: 08:18 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Let me get this straight. The state of Florida thinks forbidding folks to just browse the circulating collection will actually increase circulation? Scholarly researchers will be exempt? Who determines exactly what a "scholarly researcher" is? Those of us who write spend long hours researching locales and history. And we sometimes don't research everything in a strictly logical fashion. We need the freedom to allow one researching point to bounce us to another point. Is this "no browsing" policy a trend in states? Is it a budget problem?
I visited a wonderful public library in Gadsden, Alabama a few years ago, and although we were asked to sign into the Genealogy Room, no one asked us to give them a list of exactly what we wanted to find. Library patrons chatted freely in the Room, and we shared information and knowledge of resources, and often exchanged email addresses and surname lists. The only time we were approached by a paid library worker was when one popped his head in the door to ask if a particular car belonged to anyone in the room because its headlights were on.
I think the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Issues page might be a good one to keep an eye on. And maybe we each need to spend a lot more time in the library putting those citizen-owned resources to work for us before those citizen-elected officials find new ways to make access to information more and more difficult to obtain.
posted at: 08:18 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
