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Libraries: The Social Experience
No more shhh! University of Wisconsin's libraries change.
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2 Comments 
Posted Saturday, September 6, 2008 --- 1:20pm
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The University of Wisconsin-Madison's College Library has a coffee house, cafe and expansive views of Lake Mendota. What's missing is some books.
College Library holds about 30,000 fewer volumes than it did five years ago.
With more materials available online and in digital form, library officials have scaled back the collection of books and periodicals. In their place, space has been added for students to study and socialize.
UW-Madison director of libraries Ken Frazier says traditionalists may find the changes disturbing, but libraries have to change with the times.
And unlike some libraries that have emptied in the digital era, College Library draws about 1.2 million visitors a year.
UW's Memorial Library remains a full-fledged research library with a complete collection of books and scholarly journals.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Latest Comments
Good point Anna! What about just regular people who don't know how to work a computer, or can't find one that is open, or has their own laptop?what does someone do if they need a digital file, and it is corrupted, or unreadable? Do them blind people get brail copies of every book on file, or just the pages they need, and where do they print them brail pages? surely not every library has a printer that does that stuff- those things must be expensive, and use special paper, since regular paper is so thin. what about people who wanted to check out the book, and have someone interpret it to a different language instead of English?
What is even more pathetic than the fact they use it as a social gathering place is often, students with disabilities who use software that talks to them / reads what is on a computer screen, or use voice input (microphones hooked to computers) are pushed into side rooms to hide them from public view, oh, I mean provide a quiet space where THEIR special needs can be met! How freaking discriminating that special "gimp labs" are set up for people with special software needs while everyone else sits around drinking crappaccino talking about who is sleeping with who, what profs they hate, and how wasted they got last night! Way to really bring the UW into the Modern era by providing social interaction opportunities to people with disabilities! not to mention how gross it is to watch some snotty nose kid eat a muffin, lick his fingers, then type on a library computer! most of the digital media is innaccessible to disabled students because of formatting issues! Untagged PDFs image only scans
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