>> My view is that a library is there to serve a "community". A book that
>> serves one person only does not do that. It is up to the individual to buy
>> the book themselves or via their own source of funds rather than that of
>> the library.
One person borrows a book. (let's say). She reads a chapter and returns it
to the library that keeps it, unread, for another ten years. Let's suppose
she has a long term illness, and some other things go wrong. But life
picks up. She remembers something she read in a book once. She can't
remember where, but it has stayed with her a long time. She was inspired
by it and now she's strong enough to start the career she had hoped for.
She becomes a special needs assistant in a local school. Dozens of kids are
helped. Some of them learn to read. They talk to her about the Library.
She takes two of them to see it. They find the book she once read. It
still has the marmalade stain that she put on it, and no one else has read
it since. The kids start the process of getting user tickets. Eventually
they read about what a community is, and start to get a richer
understanding of the distinction between real life and over-individualised
economists' abstractions.
Sam Saunders
--
Education-line, Brotherton Library
University of Leeds, LS 2 9TJ
0113 233 5525 phone 0113 233 5524 fax
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol
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