Comments on: Guest Column: Public input needed on Rockford Public Library decisions http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/01/18/guest-column-public-input-needed-on-rockford-public-library-decisions/ The Rock River Times - THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1993 Tue, 21 May 2013 15:51:17 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Madelyn George http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/01/18/guest-column-public-input-needed-on-rockford-public-library-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-4754 Madelyn George Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:21:17 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=35421#comment-4754 Yay Amy!! Yay Amy!!

]]> By: F.S. Seawell http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/01/18/guest-column-public-input-needed-on-rockford-public-library-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-4474 F.S. Seawell Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:16:24 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=35421#comment-4474 Might I recommend a book, Preserving the Public in Public Schools, to Ms. Orvis, the RPL board, and the people of Rockford. Using the back drop of public schools this book offers a public values framework from which to understand public problems and how to approach creating public solutions to those problems within your community. Good luck! Might I recommend a book, Preserving the Public in Public Schools, to Ms. Orvis, the RPL board, and the people of Rockford. Using the back drop of public schools this book offers a public values framework from which to understand public problems and how to approach creating public solutions to those problems within your community. Good luck!

]]> By: Daniel Robert Smyth http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/01/18/guest-column-public-input-needed-on-rockford-public-library-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-4455 Daniel Robert Smyth Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:56:43 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=35421#comment-4455 A public library is a luxury when it is operated by public tax dollars! The first Rockford Public libraries were self supporting and each had different things to read and see. Everything was donated, including the buildings. We need to move in this direction! Currently we have a wealth of information available at our libraries. We can check out materials here and deposit them there, and it's free if you live in the city limits, or the county for a fee. Most libraries have free WI-FI as well as the many types of media we use today and long before. Things are changing for the better! I look toward a public library that is online from your home computer. In a building setting, you might be able to purchase flash drives so you can view, listen or watch at home or on your Nook type device. I can see regional libraries that might have things like micro fish or other documents only on vintage media, and they might require a membership for free access to help defray costs. Yes, the idea that you can get a physical CD or Blue-Ray of so many movies for free to check out will be a thing of the past. Soon there will just be no reason or desire to bother with a mundane plastic disc or a newspaper that someone probably just sneezed on! As the digital age encompasses our media requirements we need to push forward and prepare. I carry with me today a 32Gig flash-drive that is protected from damage unless it meets something like a garbage disposal. It is smaller than a stick of gum. ( anyone still chew gum?) Why should people in the future want something as cumbersome and flimsy as a book or newspaper that might get wet and ruined by dropping it in a puddle? We need a forward thinking Library board. We need input from the young people that will use the libraries of tomorrow. SO many of us hated to see the last drive-in movie theater go away, but we are just fine with it today. I still have my 78rpm record player and records, but set them alongside the 45s and LPs, and the 8-track and cassette tapes. I never succumbed to the Beta-Max system in favor for the new and coming SVHS systems. I have since changed to the Blue-Ray video discs, and wonder what change I will have to make in the next 20 years as even my 32Gig flash drive is obsolete. The current library system needs to change a well! A public library is a luxury when it is operated by public tax dollars!

The first Rockford Public libraries were self supporting and each had different things to read and see. Everything was donated, including the buildings.

We need to move in this direction!

Currently we have a wealth of information available at our libraries. We can check out materials here and deposit them there, and it’s free if you live in the city limits, or the county for a fee.

Most libraries have free WI-FI as well as the many types of media we use today and long before.

Things are changing for the better!

I look toward a public library that is online from your home computer. In a building setting, you might be able to purchase flash drives so you can view, listen or watch at home or on your Nook type device.
I can see regional libraries that might have things like micro fish or other documents only on vintage media, and they might require a membership for free access to help defray costs.

Yes, the idea that you can get a physical CD or Blue-Ray of so many movies for free to check out will be a thing of the past. Soon there will just be no reason or desire to bother with a mundane plastic disc or a newspaper that someone probably just sneezed on!

As the digital age encompasses our media requirements we need to push forward and prepare.

I carry with me today a 32Gig flash-drive that is protected from damage unless it meets something like a garbage disposal. It is smaller than a stick of gum. ( anyone still chew gum?) Why should people in the future want something as cumbersome and flimsy as a book or newspaper that might get wet and ruined by dropping it in a puddle?

We need a forward thinking Library board. We need input from the young people that will use the libraries of tomorrow. SO many of us hated to see the last drive-in movie theater go away, but we are just fine with it today. I still have my 78rpm record player and records, but set them alongside the 45s and LPs, and the 8-track and cassette tapes. I never succumbed to the Beta-Max system in favor for the new and coming SVHS systems. I have since changed to the Blue-Ray video discs, and wonder what change I will have to make in the next 20 years as even my 32Gig flash drive is obsolete.

The current library system needs to change a well!

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