Over the past fifty five years, since I first entered the University of Nottingham as an undergraduate student, university libraries have always played a central role in my life. The moment I enter one of those libraries, I feel at home. The sweet sense of silence that always greets me, in a world of largely senseless noise, is a tonic to my soul.
Of course, not all libraries are equally well-endowed as sources of knowledge. Libraries at the universities of Oxford, Nottingham, London School of Economics, and Newcastle Upon Tyne ranged (in that order) from outstanding to excellent. Those at the newer universities of Kent at Canterbury, York and George Mason, naturally were less well-endowed, but still imbued with the basics for scholarly endeavor.
So I have been deeply disturbed during the summer of 2012 to find the library of George Mason University decreasingly occupied, either by scholars or by students. On some occasions, indeed,the number of staff significantly exceeded the number of visitors. Last week, I asked a librarian why this was so. ‘ Libraries are increasingly viewed as obsolete’, she replied to my question. ’Individuals below the age of 40 pick up everything they can on line and do not have the attention span to explore a library, to read a lengthy tome from cover to cover, or to sit quietly in one place for more than 40 minutes.’
Sic transit gloria mundae!
Tags: books, libraries, regression in the digital age, sound bites, tweets, twitter
August 25, 2012 at 4:51 pm |
As a professor, I feel the same frustration and nostalgia about traditional libraries as Dr. Rowley.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. It has made the world literally at your fingertip with the click of a button. And yet . . .
I find that students have lost patience with reading a book from cover-to-cover, in spending time with another mind — sometimes with a mind from centuries ago, but which continues to live through the printed word — and have a “conversation” with that other mind by following its reasoning and logic.
Everything is “cut and paste,” quick facts, and more often than not quotes with little or no context or referenced meaning.
All the books in the world can be digitalized and made free or at low cost for users. But what will be gained if the the “art” of reading, reasoning and reflective understanding are lost as one of the in unintended consequences of technological progress?
How can we hope to preserve a society of freedom when an increasing number of our fellow citizens have lost the ability, interest, or inclination to thoughtfully read and think about liberty through the written words of the great writers on freedom of the past?
Richard Ebeling
August 25, 2012 at 5:33 pm |
Oh, I love libraries. The tranquility, the unbroken peace of their environment, the smell of old books, and the very idea that you are in a place where you have access to so much knowledge, beauty, art make the experience of being in a library sublime.
This post has inspired me to start a new series of posts and I thank you for that!
August 26, 2012 at 12:18 pm |
Both of these comments are wonderful. Sound bites can never substitute for deep thinking and reflection carefully preserved in the world of books. Attempting to absorb knowledge from an iPad screen in a crowded shopping mall can never equate with sitting quietly in a great library and entering into the arena of past generations of scholars and readers.
The most crass comment that I have recently read is from the new , 41-year-old President of George Mason University, Dr. Angel Cabrera, who claims to have given up reading newspapers, in favor of following 400 chosen Twitter participants as the source of his information about the world.
What kind of example does that offer for the students of his university?
November 7, 2012 at 3:42 am |
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