big box/little libraries

The readings for the urban redevelopment group and the big box bookstore group flowed together surprisingly well for me.  I started with the big box articles.  When I heard that some libraries were organizing their spaces like huge chain bookstores, I didn't really understand where the controversy would lie.  I got that this might involve abandoning the Dewey decimal system in favor of thematic organization.  Maybe I just haven't been a librarian-in-training long enough, but I guess the thought of life without Melvil doesn't get me too riled up.  In fact, this example and one in the Putnam and Feldstein article helped me realize that I am mostly concerned with organizing books to benefit the patrons (though I have not yet taken any cataloging classes and may be eating my words next semester!). 

One of the articles focused on an aspect of this trend of bookstore mimicry that caught my attention: budget.  I really hadn't considered the implications of running a library like a bookstore beyond organization, but the Coffman article suggested that monetary issues might make staffing a library like a bookstore very difficult.  I found myself frustrated while reading this.  When Coffman was comparing relative costs of staffing and running libraries and bookstores, I kept thinking, "Bookstores and libraries are trying to do essentially different things!"  One is trying to sell books, while the other is trying to get books (and other information) to libraries for free.  The bookstore is out for itself; the library is there for the good of the community.  

I thought everything in the Putnam and Feldstein article supported how I was feeling about the Coffman piece.  Libraries are doing something very unique that cannot be done with minimally-trained $7.50 an hour employees.  While it may be that librarians attempt to create "neutral" collections, they are certainly advocating for social progression and positive change.  The Chicago branch libraries in the article are attempting to bridge the digital divide, welcome new immigrants and offer ESL, support students and parents with the "Teacher in the Library" program, and provide opportunities for different races/classes to interact.  One librarian profiled "chose to combine the youth and adult nonfiction sections, since he was sensitive to the fact that adults with a wide range of reading abilities patronized the library".  I thought this article outlined the tools and programs with which libraries can keep themselves relevant,  "a place where people see a reflection of their own culture even as they get access to a wider one".  I probably got a bit too starry-eyed reading the Putnam and Feldstein article: they did not address budgeting issues as Coffman so practically and dutifully did.  But the article depicted "the least threatening public institution" moving in a direction that I'd like to see other libraries go.  When my brother-in-law tried to convince my librarian-to-be husband and I of the obsolescence of libraries, we both stammered something about community centers, job-searching materials, and public computers.  I was so excited to read about libraries in Chicago that are doing exactly what I was trying to describe.