I love the library!!!! The real one...

As an employee of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library system, Dreyfus's thoughts on technology bring about real concerns in my mind. Although the Internet is extremely useful and allows for many sources to be used in research, the actual, physical environment of a library cannot be replaced. At my library there have been many concerns about library resources becoming obsolete. Most people no longer come into the library to check out books, but rather, people are coming in either to use the computers or to check out movies and CD-ROMs. I have noticed that when I am shelving books, I don't run into a great number of crowds in the aisles. However, when I am shelving our videos and DVD's, I can barely get to the shelves due to the number of people browsing at movies. It is almost impossible for patrons to find a computer to use because the computers are perpetually in use. Librarians are no longer needed to look into the system to see if a book is available; patrons can access the system from home or from a library computer without having to approach a librarian at all. Libraries hold such value, but I fear that many people do not view it as such. The worst thing that I see is parents bringing young children into the library and allowing them to play computer games the entire time. I do not see anything inherently wrong with computer games, but I feel that children should be coming to the library in order to find books and enjoy reading. The Internet has its benefits; there is no doubt in my mind. However, when the Internet begins to take over valuable aspects of life, such as browsing at a library, this is when a problem begins to develop.