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A guest post by Kristie Lewis from Construction Management Degree.
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When we think of libraries, we usually think of silent tombs housing our culture’s vast tomes of knowledge. When I was in college, there was always a grim, je ne sais quoi about the campus library, so much so that many of my fellow classmates avoided the place altogether, and I don’t think it was simply from a desire to put off their studies. While I did enjoy the quiet and silence, I can completely understand my classmates’ consternation.
Now that my undergraduate years are far behind me, I still frequent libraries, since they are the final bastions of affordable (aka free) reading material left, with the exception of computers/ iPads/ whatever, and who wants to read on a computer screen? (Believe me, I’ve tried. And I just can’t do it, although if Now is anything of an indication, I may have to suck it up and learn.) In fact, whenever I travel somewhere, I try to visit at least one library in every city I tour. And what I’ve noticed throughout all of my library sojourns is an emerging and striking pattern. It started with the dungeon of a library at my alma mater. I now live close to my former institution of higher learning, and had decided to drop by after years of not entering the depths of its chilling recesses. And what I found was that there were some changes made. Not dramatic changes, but smaller ones that I think are a reflection of the rise of computer technology, digitization, the whole Modern Mayhem run riot that comprises the current state of humanity.
For example, I noticed that the administrative powers-that-be had installed a new wing on the particularly oppressive fourth floor. It was an oasis of light, and there was a fancy latte machine with couches all around. It seemed…peaceful. And strangely …[Read Full Article]…
