I've been a HUGE library guy since I've been a kid. Remember the sensation of going to my neighborhood library for the first time and getting a library card: felt a lot of power. Since then I've been to a lot of libraries: public libraries, school libraries, law libraries, historic libraries, personal libraries, online libraries... You name it, I've probably been there. With the advent of the internet, facebook, google, and all these other fancy library-precluding inventions out there, brick-and-mortar libraries seem a little outdated, a relic of the past, but I say, Bring it back! There's plenty of great surprises to be had at the library: updated versions of popular magazines, daily newspapers, atlases, DVD's (watched a whole season of 24 using library resources), CD's for listening to audiobooks in your car while driving to work, and what do you know.....computers for going on those very computer-precluding devices. Best part? Free.. just return those books in time.
Here's a brief list of what libraries could do to make a comeback in our society today: ( Boy do I love lists)
1. emphasize COMMUNITY. People go to facebook, concerts, parties, etc. not just for those things themselves, it's cuz they're friends are there. Make it community-friendly, plan "reading parties" there, get cool people out, do a marketing campaign.
2. Appeal to the young crowd. Kids go to libraries and need a ride to get there. Maybe they still have th
3. To get to the younger generation.....have DVD's, music. Young adults/ twenty-something's flock to the Apple store in droves for the hipness. I firmly believe libraries have the resources to stock their shelves full of some good CD's/DVD's. Get those.
4. Team up with schools for a service that allow students to get there conveniently after school. If the idea is to get kids in the door, I know in California and probably many places around the country it's a PAIN to get rides after school. Schools get out around 3:00PM.....Parents get off work around 5PM to 6Pm. Do the math. Kids need to go somewhere. If you have a shuttle service, kids don't have to scour the school looking for someone to bum a ride off of, just go to the library and do your homework or just...read a book.
5. Workout station. OK, a bit of a wild idea, but what if you just put some workout machines at libraries? Then you get the double-sensation of reading while on the treadmill/exerciese bike!!! Holy cow!!! Let's call it the "Libra-gym." Let "Libragym-mania" commence.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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