What should a good library provide

We all know the library is a great place to check out free books, but it offers patrons so much more than just something to read.

Andrew Carnegie, the famously ruthless steel magnate, was also an avid and lifelong reader. Carnegie funded the construction of a public library, and supplied it with books, in almost every town in America that requested one.

In total, he established over 1, libraries — nearly half the public libraries in the United States — by This was virtually unheard of at the time, and several states had to change existing laws to make this tax-based revenue structure legal so that they could fund their Carnegie libraries.

One option was circulating libraries, which were often housed in stores and pubs and charged readers a fee for borrowing books.

The second was subscription libraries. Mainly underwritten by private funds, these subscription libraries only granted access to paying members, who were typically those who had the time and money to belong to them.

With the advent of the taxpayer-funded public library model, Carnegie made it easier for people from all socioeconomic backgrounds to borrow and read books for free and ensured that cities and towns would care for this valuable public resource in perpetuity. For all these quests and more, your first stop should be your local public library. For example, my public library in Pittsburgh not only offers e-books , but it also lets patrons check out e-readers on which to read them.

He simply waits for the DVD to hit the public library, puts in a request to check it out, and makes a stay-at-home movie night out of it every couple of weeks. Many offer laptops for checkout, as well as Wi-Fi hotspots, to increase Internet connectivity in rural or economically disadvantaged areas. Most libraries will also print items for a small fee, a service that many people use to print necessary documents such as IRS forms during tax season or resumes for a job search.

In addition to checking out laptops and e-readers, you can also use the library to help you grow your skill set. The stimulus to share and reuse information and knowledge comes in many guises. Perhaps the most deep-rooted of our human instincts is the desire to preserve our culture for future generations. This is one of the most important functions of libraries. Libraries are rich repositories of historically and culturally significant collections, many of which are not available anywhere else in the world.

Without an appropriate copyright exception, a library could not preserve or replace a damaged work while it is still covered by copyright. For example, it could not lawfully copy or digitize an old newspaper or a unique sound recording to preserve it.

Without appropriate library exceptions, this cultural heritage would be lost to future generations. Without the legal means to preserve and replace works in a variety of media and formats — including format shifting and migrating electronic content from obsolete storage formats — many of these works will inevitably be lost to future generations of historians. The challenges facing libraries are linked in large part to the fact that, while international copyright agreements guarantee exclusive rights for authors and other right holders, the interpretation of the exceptions and limitations that entities such as libraries depend on in order to provide their services is left to national parliaments.

In sum, exceptions and limitations are national and optional, whereas the rights accruing to right holders are international and guaranteed. The study found that statutes relating to library exceptions differ greatly from one country to another.

It also found that, of the countries surveyed, 21 had no library exceptions in their copyright laws, and had a least one statutory library exception, with many, most often in developed countries, having multiple library-related provisions. Even where library exceptions to copyright laws do exist, however, they generally date from the pre-Internet age and now need to be updated and adapted to the digital environment. They also point to the need for a common approach to ensuring equitable access to knowledge, and to providing libraries with the legal means to preserve the unique cultural, artistic and scientific heritage of each country.

The Internet has created tremendous opportunities in terms of accessing knowledge. While it is difficult to foresee the full implications of such an undertaking, the benefits promise to be widespread and powerful. A record in need of conservation and preservation work. Without appropriate exceptions a library cannot preserve or replace a damaged work that is still covered by copyright.

One particularly moving example of the benefits of mass digitization comes from my own library, the British Library.

A number of years ago we digitized a series of 20th century recordings from Uganda and put them online. Many libraries have become front-line institutions in addressing the needs of the homeless. The emphasis is on making all library visitors feel welcome. The library runs a Homeless Engagement and Leadership Program HELP Desk where customers can obtain one-on-one assistance with job applications and resumes, food and housing referrals, legal aid, and library music and arts programs.

Libraries focus on a wide range of populations with particular needs, including seniors, veterans, and immigrants. TAP partners with community leaders and organizations to provide employment services, English as a new language classes, legal orientation programs, Know-Your-Rights forums, and referrals to other services, in five different languages.

Meanwhile the Queens Borough Public Library in New York, has partnered with the Queens Health Network, the largest healthcare provider in the area, to design health-related and community-centered programming targeting the needs of its immigrant populations. In health care and other areas, libraries are combining the access and trust characteristics of a third place with a hub role in the community — using partnerships with other institutions to connect people with services and help.

There are plenty of challenges with this role. Community needs and the requests of visitors are increasingly straining or overwhelming library funds; and although many libraries are retraining staff, achieving the appropriate mix of skills is difficult. Cater for differences in learning and teaching styles through the provision of, and equality of access to, a wide range of curriculum resources — fiction and non-fiction, digital, print, audio and video.

Provide teachers with access to relevant curriculum information and professional development materials within and outside the school; and opportunities to cooperatively plan, implement and evaluate learning program. Does your school have a library? We would love you to tell us why you think the school library is important. Please drop your comments in the comment box below. The Ultimate School Management Guide.