Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

For some reason, the libraries here in Halifax have been quietly redesigned to become "community centres" instead of libraries (yet they still call it "libraries"). The nearest library to where we live, called the Keshen Goodman Library, is an incredibly beautifully designed structure, which probably won some architectural awards when it was built. When you go inside however, it is one big open-plan wasteland - for bibliophiles, I mean. The few bookshelves are crowded out by dozens of computer workstations, meeting rooms, study cubicles, a children's play area, and even a coffee shop. Yes, you can go to the library to get language training, learn how to use a computer, read your e-mail, play computer games, have a meeting, or even drink some coffee. If you are a potential Borrower of Books, however, you are a rarity. This morning when I was there, I couldn't find a parking space. Mm, busy library, I thought, books must be flying off the shelves here! No. Instead, the Keshen Goodman was a hive of non-library related activity - filled with shouting and screaming pre-school toddlers attending some sort of pre-school activity, teenagers browsing the internet (while loudly talking on their cell phones), and people chatting in the coffee shop. Nobody seemed to mind. It was not a place to quietly browse the bookshelves, or even for sitting down to read (gasp!) a book. Imagine that, a library where readers are being ostracized, in favour of computer users and bawling infants! Why not just call it a community/computer access centre, and replace the "library" sign outside - that way, people like me would know that we have no place there.

Posted by HannesB at 4:34 AM Comments