dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
LECTURE SERIES ON LITERACY CRISIS IN THE U. S. _______________________________________________ Wednesdays at 6 p. m. Free admission Central Research Library, Trustees Room 206 Call 930-0855 for reservations. Supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities. April 4 "Learning to Read: One Man's Journey" Kenneth Wooden, an author and advocate of children's rights, will discuss his personal experience as a former semi-illiterate. April 11 "Illiteracy: The Governments's Response" Government representatives talk with academics about their work in combating illiteracy. April 18 "Illiteracy: The Community's Response" Representatives of community agencies talk with academics about their approach to the problem of illiteracy.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
Relay-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: mit-eddie!dws From: dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: libraries Message-ID: <1441@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Mar-84 04:20:11 EST Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.1441 Posted: Fri Mar 16 04:20:11 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 16-Mar-84 04:20:11 EST References: <1248@sdccs6.UUCP> Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 13 Boston has asked for some feedback as the search for a library director continues: It seems that a scientist or humanist is needed rather than a librarian per se, for a generalist will likely consider the community and the mandate of the library service. Now, preservation has priority over access to books, records and other resources there. All the good intentions do not survive the bureaucracy and misinformation about locating materials. The last direction of the institution focused on foreign language books and catalog computerization. Next, a administrator should look at users, visitors and reaching out to fulfill a mandate for library service to the community.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
Boston has asked for some feedback as the search for a library director continues: It seems that a scientist or humanist is needed rather than a librarian per se, for a generalist will likely consider the community and the mandate of the library service. Now, preservation has priority over access to books, records and other resources there. All the good intentions do not survive the bureaucracy and misinformation about locating materials. The last direction of the institution focused on foreign language books and catalog computerization. Next, a administrator should look at users, visitors and reaching out to fulfill a mandate for library service to the community.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
Library's arrogance and imperial attitude: When locating books and records in Boston, they delay or refuse to allow access to documentation on the resources of the institution. They say internal matter is not the province of public oversight. This includes inhouse documentation about the work of the library. This documentation is public record. How would users and visitors to the library know capabilities and limitations of library services? Existing annual reports and manuals for different departments of the library would serve to acquaint everyone with specific library services as well as deriving greater support from readers.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
Central library at Copley Square, Boston delays or refuses requests for documentation about policies, proceedures, rules and regulations. Annual reports and department manuals aren't accessible and it's a public library--a division of municipal government. They're intimidated and defensive on reference questions about the library per se, yet it'd be one smallway to kindle any visitor's or user's interest about library concerns. NYPL Opens the Book on Censorship _________________________________ Beginning June 1, The New York Public Library will explore the subject of censorship through major exhibitions, films and public forums. CENSORSHIP: 500 YEARS OF CONFLICT __________________________________ The most comprehensive exhibit ever mounted on the subject of censorship will inaugurate the restored Gottesman Exhibition Hall, closed for 40 years. More than 250 rarebooks, prints and manuscripts, drawn entirely from the Library's collections, will trace five centuries of censorship in Western culture, from the advent of printing to the present. Central Research Library, June 1- October 15. Monday-Saturday, 10-6; For details call 221-7676. COMPLEMENTARY EXHIBITIONS _________________________ Four exhibitions will focus on specialized topics of censorship: Censorship in the Slavic World and ______________________________ Censorship in Libraries Today, at the Central Research Library, _____________________________ June 1-October 15; Censorship in Black America, ___________________________ at the Schomburg Center, July 13-October 15; Censorship of British and American Theater, August 1-October 15. __________________________________________ For details call 221-7676. EXHIBITION TOURS ________________ Hour long tours of the three Censorship exhibits in the Central Research Library will be given Monday- Saturday at noon and 2 p. m. each day. To arrange a group tour, call 930-0501. FILMS _____ A series of 12 controversial films will be screened uncensored at the Donnell Library at 53rd Street. Cosponsored by Exit Art, the series will take place on Thursday evenings at 6 p. m., June 21-August. For details call 930-0855. PUBLIC FORUMS _____________ A series of panel discussions entitled "Who reads What? Censorship in School Libraries" will take place on Tuesday evenings at 6 p. m. on June 5, 12 and 19. Writers, librarians, community activists and academics will participate. From September to mid October, readings and panel discussions on contemporary issues of censorship will feature journalists, legislators, expatriate writers and community activists. Trustees Room, Central Research Library; for details and reservations, call 930-0855. --The New York Public Library Calendar of Exhibitions & Events, April-May 1984
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (03/28/84)
Boston Musical Theater in the 19th Century exhibition: Materials from the Allen A. Brown Music Collection. Held in conjunction with the March meeting of the Sonneck Society at the Central research library music department, Copley Square.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/05/84)
TRANSITION TEAM'S REPORT ON THE BPL [Boston Public Library] The new mayor's transition team has recently issued its report on conditions at the BPL. After basic background material on the physical plant, the numbers of library card holders and staff, the trustees and funding, the report comes right to the point. Its major criticisms of the library may be summarized as follows: FUNDING: The BPL lacks a development office and has had "no major fund raising efforts since the library's centennial in 1953." Gifts of money and materials by individuals and friends groups are actually discouraged by the library's frequent lack of acknowledgement and policy of favoring the RL [research library] collection over the branches. ADMINISTRATION: Management/union relations "are notoriously bad," and "union grievance level is the highest in the city." There is a low morale and a high turnover rate among the staff. DENTRALIZATION: The central library at Copley Square is greatly favored over the branches in acquisitions, staff and physical maintenance. "Branch libraries do not play a strong role in the decision making process. Decisions are made at the top with little input from those directly affected by policy decisions." BRANCHES: Branch libraries from shortage of staff, especially of professional librarians. Collection building is difficult. Funding and support suffer because of the administration's preference for central. Facilities are "underutilized as free public meeting places" and are not as well maintained as those at central. "Security systems are grossly inadequate." Some recent improvements are: 1) Closer cooperation between the BPL and the Boston public schools. 2) Establishment of a new training program for pre-professionals.[sic] 3) Expansion of the National Endowment for the Humanities programs from three to six branches. 4) Assignment of a staff member "to supervise day to day physical maintenance of branch libraries." 5) Development of cable TV programs for high school students. 6) Ordering of replacement materials again allowed. Some of the transitions team's recommendations are as follows: 1) Major improvements in whole approach to fund raising. 2) More emphasis on branches and the services they provide. 3) Decentralization of decision making.[centralization?] 4) Appointment of a community resident, neighborhood library user to the trustees. 5) Appointment of the mayor himself or his representative to the advisory committee. 6) Establishment of a more representative examining committee. 7) Improvement of "communication and access to information ...between the library administration and the taxpayers." 8) Appointment of a staff member "as a contact and support person for all associates and friends activities." --The Real Sheet, newsletter, Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association, Dec. 16, 1983, p. 2
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/09/84)
Boston's library's at a crossroads By Richard Higgins Globe Staff THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AT COPLEY SQUARE GLOBE PHOTO BY JIM WILSON Joe Sakey was born in the South End and raised in the Boston Public Library. Now Cambridge's cable TV commissioner, Sakey, 58, comes close to tears when he speaks of what he says was the Parthenon of the Athens of America. "From sixth grade on, I literally lived in Bates Hall," he says of the main reading room in the great stone building in Copley Square. A son of Syrian immigrants, Sakey went on to earn two college degrees, work for the State Department and head three public libraries. "I did my Latin School homework...but more than that, I was exposed to people doing all kinds of research, to a whole environment of books and ideas," he says. "The library was the instrument of my coming up in the world." Today, the Boston Public Library remains a temple of urban culture and steward to a world class collection of books. But, in the opinion of scholars, other librarians and card holders from across the city and the country, it no longer plays a central role in the lives of Boston's people. Nor, they say, has it ridden the crest of the microchip revolution to serve the emerging needs of a new generation of information consumers. One trustee, who asked not to be named, summed up the criticism when he described the library as "sleepy." As it concludes its year long search for a new director, both backers and critics agree the nation's oldest library is at a critical crossroads. "The BPL still has the potential," says Sakey, "but it needs a push if it's going to be more relevant as a people's library. It's got the books, the research resources and the money, but the climate just isn't what you'd call user friendly. And the branch libraries aren't responding to neighborhood needs...." The search for a director began when Philip McNiff resigned last June after 18 years during which he substantially rebuilt the research library. Aware that the library was at a turning point, the trustees set about to search for a successor who would, as one of them said, possess the skills of a scholars, manager, historian, bibliophile, computer genius and politician. The search had been nearing an end until Mayor Raymond L. Flynn two weeks ago replace three of the board's five members with his own appointees, delaying a decision at least until this Summer. The 132 year old library, with its 25 branches, five million books, seven million nonbook items, varied special collections and a research library ranked among the country's best, is undeniably a national treasure. No longer, however, is it regarded as a leader in library science. Quality of service questioned Nine preeminent librarians invited by the trustees to evaluate the BPL last year praised its planned $12.3 million renovation of the stately McKim, Mead and White building at Copley Square and the upkeep of its collections, but they criticized service to the public as weak and unimaginative. "There is greater emphasis place upon preservation than promotion of usage," Milwaukee Public Library Director Don Sager wrote. "While understandable in the research collection, this philosophy appears to carry over to the general library and the branches." Among the drawbacks cited were the shortage of qualified children's librarians [only eight serve the branches], the lack of a central desk and other aids to orient first time visitors to the central library, problems in supplying branches with basics, such as best sellers or popular periodicals and inadequate promotion of neighborhood programs and services. Even the central library, they noted, lacked current periodicals. Last week a man seeking the popular novel, "The Name of the Rose", a New York Times best seller yet to be issued in paperback, was told 11 people were on a list ahead of him to get one of eight regular and two large print copies; the wait would take three weeks to several months. A librarian at the North End branch, who asked for a copy of the book in the original Italian, said she shouldn't get copies in English. She said the central library "told us not to expect them to be able" to send best sellers to the branches. "It's a new era" "We didn't see any major operating problems...but we felt the library wasn't as visible, that [its] general programs and services weren't being pushed out as attractively as they could be," said Robert Wedgeworth, executive director of the Chicago-based American Library Association. "In the last 15 or so years, the BPL has worked hard on improving its internal operations, building its collections and new technical systems. Now the need is to exploit that in service to users in all the communities of Boston. It's a new era, and the BPL has to set a new agenda." Wedgeworth said the new director will have to develop a more comprehensive planning process to...help reassert the BPL major cultural institution. Boston has public library number 1 and it ought to again be a potent and powerful force on the national library scene." A study by the mayor's transition task force on communities and services concluded that the BPL is actually "two libraries"--a general circulation library and a noncirculating research library "for the Commonwealth". While emphasis was placed on the research library in recent years, "the quantity and quality of community service steadily diminished", the report stated. It cited the lack of professional staff at five of the 25 branches. It also noted that while a Newton resident can obtain Boston research library materials through an interlibrary loan, those materials may not be sent to Roslindale. It urged that the research library, the last of its kind in the nation funded primarily by local taxpayers, be removed from the city budget and be supported by the state and private funds. Panel sees gradual improvement Nevertheless, the examining committee, a body of public overseers appointed by the trustees, concluded in a new report that basic services have slowly begun to improve. The report said that what is needed is continued progress, not massive changes such as recasting the research library into a statewide information center with outside funding. Liam Kelly, the acting director, opposes removing the research library form the city budget. "We don't have two libraries here", he said. In recent years, he said, the BPL has focused on its "efficiency and effectiveness" and is now working on the branches and on promoting more public use of computer based services. "We are fulfilling our role as a people's library," said Kelly. Kelly said the BPL is working more closely with Boston's public schools after a long hiatus, is offering more cultural activities such as harp recitals and silent films and has taken steps to recruit qualified librarians to fill vacancies in both the central and branch libraries. A "public needs" committee is developing plans to make the library more "warm and friendly", he said. All this comes at a time when the library is beginning a three year program of internal repair and renovation financed by a loan order authorized by the City Council last Fall. Defending the library's role in adapting to new technologies, Kelly said the BPL would soon be shifting catalog and circulation information into data and video discs that would eventually be viewable on cable television. To a large extent, the BPL's problems reflect a deep change in American culture. When Joshua Bates and other founders envisioned the library as the "crowning glory" of the city's public education system, theirs was a mission as easy to define as it was hard: gather the books and gather the people. No more. Books not enough anymore "There has been a vast fragmentation of culture", said Sam Bass Warner, a Boston University historian and chairman of the library trustee's search advisory committee. High culture is no longer just Harvard Square [print oriented intellectuals]... Now it comes in a tremendous array of forms--film, video, computer based mediums, new art forms... The book itself is going to have to make room. Ours is a more plural culture and public libraries are struggling to find a way to serve it. How best to do that isn't clear, but trying to run them like a large college library just isn't going to make it" The problems of the BPL are compounded by an administration that for years has focused on the collection of books and internal operations. "The library has turned inward and needs to push outward, now." said Warner. "It has to deal with user demands it didn't have before, for statistics, government reports and data, [new] business and consumer information." Providing better public service "doesn't take a lot of magic", Warner said. "Part of it is simply keeping hold of a lot of the popular periodical stuff, getting more books for the city's Hispanics or Southeast Asians, controlling the shelves better, and weeding the collection, making the library an easier place in which to get oriented." Acting director, Kelly said that whoever leads the library next would have "to recognize that the information function is becoming much more important". He was wary, however, of what he termed a "public relations approach" to increasing public access or private fund raising, such as the celebrated dinner parties in the courtyard of the New York Public Library. "This is a great library," said Kelly, whose near reverence for public libraries was kindled by growning up without them in Ireland. "It's great because it has a great collection."
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/09/84)
Boston's library's at a crossroads By Richard Higgins Globe Staff THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AT COPLEY SQUARE GLOBE PHOTO BY JIM WILSON Joe Sakey was born in the South End and raised in the Boston Public Library. Now Cambridge's cable TV commissioner, Sakey, 58, comes close to tears when he speaks of what he says was the Parthenon of the Athens of America. "From sixth grade on, I literally lived in Bates Hall," he says of the main reading room in the great stone building in Copley Square. A son of Syrian immigrants, Sakey went on to earn two college degrees, work for the State Department and head three public libraries. "I did my Latin School homework...but more than that, I was exposed to people doing all kinds of research, to a whole environment of books and ideas," he says. "The library was the instrument of my coming up in the world." Today, the Boston Public Library remains a temple of urban culture and steward to a world class collection of books. But, in the opinion of scholars, other librarians and card holders from across the city and the country, it no longer plays a central role in the lives of Boston's people. Nor, they say, has it ridden the crest of the microchip revolution to serve the emerging needs of a new generation of information consumers. One trustee, who asked not to be named, summed up the criticism when he described the library as "sleepy." As it concludes its year long search for a new director, both backers and critics agree the nation's oldest library is at a critical crossroads. "The BPL still has the potential," says Sakey, "but it needs a push if it's going to be more relevant as a people's library. It's got the books, the research resources and the money, but the climate just isn't what you'd call user friendly. And the branch libraries aren't responding to neighborhood needs...." The search for a director began when Philip McNiff resigned last June after 18 years during which he substantially rebuilt the research library. Aware that the library was at a turning point, the trustees set about to search for a successor who would, as one of them said, possess the skills of a scholar, manager, historian, bibliophile, computer genius and politician. The search had been nearing an end until Mayor Raymond L. Flynn two weeks ago replace three of the board's five members with his own appointees, delaying a decision at least until this Summer. The 132 year old library, with its 25 branches, five million books, seven million nonbook items, varied special collections and a research library ranked among the country's best, is undeniably a national treasure. No longer, however, is it regarded as a leader in library science. Quality of service questioned Nine preeminent librarians invited by the trustees to evaluate the BPL last year praised its planned $12.3 million renovation of the stately McKim, Mead and White building at Copley Square and the upkeep of its collections, but they criticized service to the public as weak and unimaginative. "There is greater emphasis place upon preservation than promotion of usage," Milwaukee Public Library Director Don Sager wrote. "While understandable in the research collection, this philosophy appears to carry over to the general library and the branches." Among the drawbacks cited were the shortage of qualified children's librarians [only eight serve the branches], the lack of a central desk and other aids to orient first time visitors to the central library, problems in supplying branches with basics, such as best sellers or popular periodicals and inadequate promotion of neighborhood programs and services. Even the central library, they noted, lacked current periodicals. Last week a man seeking the popular novel, "The Name of the Rose", a New York Times best seller yet to be issued in paperback, was told 11 people were on a list ahead of him to get one of eight regular and two large print copies; the wait would take three weeks to several months. A librarian at the North End branch, who asked for a copy of the book in the original Italian, said she shouldn't get copies in English. She said the central library "told us not to expect them to be able" to send best sellers to the branches. "It's a new era" "We didn't see any major operating problems...but we felt the library wasn't as visible, that [its] general programs and services weren't being pushed out as attractively as they could be," said Robert Wedgeworth, executive director of the Chicago-based American Library Association. "In the last 15 or so years, the BPL has worked hard on improving its internal operations, building its collections and new technical systems. Now the need is to exploit that in service to users in all the communities of Boston. It's a new era, and the BPL has to set a new agenda." Wedgeworth said the new director will have to develop a more comprehensive planning process to...help reassert the BPL major cultural institution. Boston has public library number 1 and it ought to again be a potent and powerful force on the national library scene." A study by the mayor's transition task force on communities and services concluded that the BPL is actually "two libraries"--a general circulation library and a noncirculating research library "for the Commonwealth". While emphasis was placed on the research library in recent years, "the quantity and quality of community service steadily diminished", the report stated. It cited the lack of professional staff at five of the 25 branches. It also noted that while a Newton resident can obtain Boston research library materials through an interlibrary loan, those materials may not be sent to Roslindale. It urged that the research library, the last of its kind in the nation funded primarily by local taxpayers, be removed from the city budget and be supported by the state and private funds. Panel sees gradual improvement Nevertheless, the examining committee, a body of public overseers appointed by the trustees, concluded in a new report that basic services have slowly begun to improve. The report said that what is needed is continued progress, not massive changes such as recasting the research library into a statewide information center with outside funding. Liam Kelly, the acting director, opposes removing the research library form the city budget. "We don't have two libraries here", he said. In recent years, he said, the BPL has focused on its "efficiency and effectiveness" and is now working on the branches and on promoting more public use of computer based services. "We are fulfilling our role as a people's library," said Kelly. Kelly said the BPL is working more closely with Boston's public schools after a long hiatus, is offering more cultural activities such as harp recitals and silent films and has taken steps to recruit qualified librarians to fill vacancies in both the central and branch libraries. A "public needs" committee is developing plans to make the library more "warm and friendly", he said. All this comes at a time when the library is beginning a three year program of internal repair and renovation financed by a loan order authorized by the City Council last Fall. Defending the library's role in adapting to new technologies, Kelly said the BPL would soon be shifting catalog and circulation information into data and video discs that would eventually be viewable on cable television. To a large extent, the BPL's problems reflect a deep change in American culture. When Joshua Bates and other founders envisioned the library as the "crowning glory" of the city's public education system, theirs was a mission as easy to define as it was hard: gather the books and gather the people. No more. Books not enough anymore "There has been a vast fragmentation of culture", said Sam Bass Warner, a Boston University historian and chairman of the library trustee's search advisory committee. High culture is no longer just Harvard Square [print oriented intellectuals]... Now it comes in a tremendous array of forms--film, video, computer based mediums, new art forms... The book itself is going to have to make room. Ours is a more plural culture and public libraries are struggling to find a way to serve it. How best to do that isn't clear, but trying to run them like a large college library just isn't going to make it" The problems of the BPL are compounded by an administration that for years has focused on the collection of books and internal operations. "The library has turned inward and needs to push outward, now." said Warner. "It has to deal with user demands it didn't have before, for statistics, government reports and data, [new] business and consumer information." Providing better public service "doesn't take a lot of magic", Warner said. "Part of it is simply keeping hold of a lot of the popular periodical stuff, getting more books for the city's Hispanics or Southeast Asians, controlling the shelves better, and weeding the collection, making the library an easier place in which to get oriented." Acting director, Kelly said that whoever leads the library next would have "to recognize that the information function is becoming much more important". He was wary, however, of what he termed a "public relations approach" to increasing public access or private fund raising, such as the celebrated dinner parties in the courtyard of the New York Public Library. "This is a great library," said Kelly, whose near reverence for public libraries was kindled by growning up without them in Ireland. "It's great because it has a great collection."
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/09/84)
Boston's library's at a crossroads By Richard Higgins Globe Staff THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AT COPLEY SQUARE GLOBE PHOTO BY JIM WILSON Joe Sakey was born in the South End and raised in the Boston Public Library. Now Cambridge's cable TV commissioner, Sakey, 58, comes close to tears when he speaks of what he says was the Parthenon of the Athens of America. "From sixth grade on, I literally lived in Bates Hall," he says of the main reading room in the great stone building in Copley Square. A son of Syrian immigrants, Sakey went on to earn two college degrees, work for the State Department and head three public libraries. "I did my Latin School homework...but more than that, I was exposed to people doing all kinds of research, to a whole environment of books and ideas," he says. "The library was the instrument of my coming up in the world." Today, the Boston Public Library remains a temple of urban culture and steward to a world class collection of books. But, in the opinion of scholars, other librarians and card holders from across the city and the country, it no longer plays a central role in the lives of Boston's people. Nor, they say, has it ridden the crest of the microchip revolution to serve the emerging needs of a new generation of information consumers. One trustee, who asked not to be named, summed up the criticism when he described the library as "sleepy." As it concludes its year long search for a new director, both backers and critics agree the nation's oldest library is at a critical crossroads. "The BPL still has the potential," says Sakey, "but it needs a push if it's going to be more relevant as a people's library. It's got the books, the research resources and the money, but the climate just isn't what you'd call user friendly. And the branch libraries aren't responding to neighborhood needs...." The search for a director began when Philip McNiff resigned last June after 18 years during which he substantially rebuilt the research library. Aware that the library was at a turning point, the trustees set about to search for a successor who would, as one of them said, possess the skills of a scholar, manager, historian, bibliophile, computer genius and politician. The search had been nearing an end until Mayor Raymond L. Flynn two weeks ago replace three of the board's five members with his own appointees, delaying a decision at least until this Summer. The 132 year old library, with its 25 branches, five million books, seven million nonbook items, varied special collections and a research library ranked among the country's best, is undeniably a national treasure. No longer, however, is it regarded as a leader in library science. Quality of service questioned Nine preeminent librarians invited by the trustees to evaluate the BPL last year praised its planned $12.3 million renovation of the stately McKim, Mead and White building at Copley Square and the upkeep of its collections, but they criticized service to the public as weak and unimaginative. "There is greater emphasis place upon preservation than promotion of usage," Milwaukee Public Library Director Don Sager wrote. "While understandable in the research collection, this philosophy appears to carry over to the general library and the branches." Among the drawbacks cited were the shortage of qualified children's librarians [only eight serve the branches], the lack of a central desk and other aids to orient first time visitors to the central library, problems in supplying branches with basics, such as best sellers or popular periodicals and inadequate promotion of neighborhood programs and services. Even the central library, they noted, lacked current periodicals. Last week a man seeking the popular novel, "The Name of the Rose", a New York Times best seller yet to be issued in paperback, was told 11 people were on a list ahead of him to get one of eight regular and two large print copies; the wait would take three weeks to several months. A librarian at the North End branch, who asked for a copy of the book in the original Italian, said she shouldn't get copies in English. She said the central library "told us not to expect them to be able" to send best sellers to the branches. "It's a new era" "We didn't see any major operating problems...but we felt the library wasn't as visible, that [its] general programs and services weren't being pushed out as attractively as they could be," said Robert Wedgeworth, executive director of the Chicago-based American Library Association. "In the last 15 or so years, the BPL has worked hard on improving its internal operations, building its collections and new technical systems. Now the need is to exploit that in service to users in all the communities of Boston. It's a new era, and the BPL has to set a new agenda." Wedgeworth said the new director will have to develop a more comprehensive planning process to...help reassert the BPL major cultural institution. Boston has public library number 1 and it ought to again be a potent and powerful force on the national library scene." A study by the mayor's transition task force on communities and services concluded that the BPL is actually "two libraries"--a general circulation library and a noncirculating research library "for the Commonwealth". While emphasis was placed on the research library in recent years, "the quantity and quality of community service steadily diminished", the report stated. It cited the lack of professional staff at five of the 25 branches. It also noted that while a Newton resident can obtain Boston research library materials through an interlibrary loan, those materials may not be sent to Roslindale. It urged that the research library, the last of its kind in the nation funded primarily by local taxpayers, be removed from the city budget and be supported by the state and private funds. Panel sees gradual improvement Nevertheless, the examining committee, a body of public overseers appointed by the trustees, concluded in a new report that basic services have slowly begun to improve. The report said that what is needed is continued progress, not massive changes such as recasting the research library into a statewide information center with outside funding. Liam Kelly, the acting director, opposes removing the research library form the city budget. "We don't have two libraries here", he said. In recent years, he said, the BPL has focused on its "efficiency and effectiveness" and is now working on the branches and on promoting more public use of computer based services. "We are fulfilling our role as a people's library," said Kelly. Kelly said the BPL is working more closely with Boston's public schools after a long hiatus, is offering more cultural activities such as harp recitals and silent films and has taken steps to recruit qualified librarians to fill vacancies in both the central and branch libraries. A "public needs" committee is developing plans to make the library more "warm and friendly", he said. All this comes at a time when the library is beginning a three year program of internal repair and renovation financed by a loan order authorized by the City Council last Fall. Defending the library's role in adapting to new technologies, Kelly said the BPL would soon be shifting catalog and circulation information into data and video discs that would eventually be viewable on cable television. To a large extent, the BPL's problems reflect a deep change in American culture. When Joshua Bates and other founders envisioned the library as the "crowning glory" of the city's public education system, theirs was a mission as easy to define as it was hard: gather the books and gather the people. No more. Books not enough anymore "There has been a vast fragmentation of culture", said Sam Bass Warner, a Boston University historian and chairman of the library trustee's search advisory committee. High culture is no longer just Harvard Square [print oriented intellectuals]... Now it comes in a tremendous array of forms--film, video, computer based mediums, new art forms... The book itself is going to have to make room. Ours is a more plural culture and public libraries are struggling to find a way to serve it. How best to do that isn't clear, but trying to run them like a large college library just isn't going to make it" The problems of the BPL are compounded by an administration that for years has focused on the collection of books and internal operations. "The library has turned inward and needs to push outward, now." said Warner. "It has to deal with user demands it didn't have before, for statistics, government reports and data, [new] business and consumer information." Providing better public service "doesn't take a lot of magic", Warner said. "Part of it is simply keeping hold of a lot of the popular periodical stuff, getting more books for the city's Hispanics or Southeast Asians, controlling the shelves better, and weeding the collection, making the library an easier place in which to get oriented." Acting director, Kelly said that whoever leads the library next would have "to recognize that the information function is becoming much more important". He was wary, however, of what he termed a "public relations approach" to increasing public access or private fund raising, such as the celebrated dinner parties in the courtyard of the New York Public Library. "This is a great library," said Kelly, whose near reverence for public libraries was kindled by growning up without them in Ireland. "It's great because it has a great collection." --The Boston Globe, daily newspaper, Mon., April 2, 1984
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/09/84)
Boston's library's at a crossroads By Richard Higgins Globe Staff THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AT COPLEY SQUARE GLOBE PHOTO BY JIM WILSON Joe Sakey was born in the South End and raised in the Boston Public Library. Now Cambridge's cable TV commissioner, Sakey, 58, comes close to tears when he speaks of what he says was the Parthenon of the Athens of America. "From sixth grade on, I literally lived in Bates Hall," he says of the main reading room in the great stone building in Copley Square. A son of Syrian immigrants, Sakey went on to earn two college degrees, work for the State Department and head three public libraries. "I did my Latin School homework...but more than that, I was exposed to people doing all kinds of research, to a whole environment of books and ideas," he says. "The library was the instrument of my coming up in the world." Today, the Boston Public Library remains a temple of urban culture and steward to a world class collection of books. But, in the opinion of scholars, other librarians and card holders from across the city and the country, it no longer plays a central role in the lives of Boston's people. Nor, they say, has it ridden the crest of the microchip revolution to serve the emerging needs of a new generation of information consumers. One trustee, who asked not to be named, summed up the criticism when he described the library as "sleepy." As it concludes its year long search for a new director, both backers and critics agree the nation's oldest library is at a critical crossroads. "The BPL still has the potential," says Sakey, "but it needs a push if it's going to be more relevant as a people's library. It's got the books, the research resources and the money, but the climate just isn't what you'd call user friendly. And the branch libraries aren't responding to neighborhood needs...." The search for a director began when Philip McNiff resigned last June after 18 years during which he substantially rebuilt the research library. Aware that the library was at a turning point, the trustees set about to search for a successor who would, as one of them said, possess the skills of a scholar, manager, historian, bibliophile, computer genius and politician. The search had been nearing an end until Mayor Raymond L. Flynn two weeks ago replace three of the board's five members with his own appointees, delaying a decision at least until this Summer. The 132 year old library, with its 25 branches, five million books, seven million nonbook items, varied special collections and a research library ranked among the country's best, is undeniably a national treasure. No longer, however, is it regarded as a leader in library science. Quality of service questioned Nine preeminent librarians invited by the trustees to evaluate the BPL last year praised its planned $12.3 million renovation of the stately McKim, Mead and White building at Copley Square and the upkeep of its collections, but they criticized service to the public as weak and unimaginative. "There is greater emphasis place upon preservation than promotion of usage," Milwaukee Public Library Director Don Sager wrote. "While understandable in the research collection, this philosophy appears to carry over to the general library and the branches." Among the drawbacks cited were the shortage of qualified children's librarians [only eight serve the branches], the lack of a central desk and other aids to orient first time visitors to the central library, problems in supplying branches with basics, such as best sellers or popular periodicals and inadequate promotion of neighborhood programs and services. Even the central library, they noted, lacked current periodicals. Last week a man seeking the popular novel, "The Name of the Rose", a New York Times best seller yet to be issued in paperback, was told 11 people were on a list ahead of him to get one of eight regular and two large print copies; the wait would take three weeks to several months. A librarian at the North End branch, who asked for a copy of the book in the original Italian, said she shouldn't get copies in English. She said the central library "told us not to expect them to be able" to send best sellers to the branches. "It's a new era" "We didn't see any major operating problems...but we felt the library wasn't as visible, that [its] general programs and services weren't being pushed out as attractively as they could be," said Robert Wedgeworth, executive director of the Chicago-based American Library Association. "In the last 15 or so years, the BPL has worked hard on improving its internal operations, building its collections and new technical systems. Now the need is to exploit that in service to users in all the communities of Boston. It's a new era, and the BPL has to set a new agenda." Wedgeworth said the new director will have to develop a more comprehensive planning process to...help reassert the BPL major cultural institution. Boston has public library number 1 and it ought to again be a potent and powerful force on the national library scene." A study by the mayor's transition task force on communities and services concluded that the BPL is actually "two libraries"--a general circulation library and a noncirculating research library "for the Commonwealth". While emphasis was placed on the research library in recent years, "the quantity and quality of community service steadily diminished", the report stated. It cited the lack of professional staff at five of the 25 branches. It also noted that while a Newton resident can obtain Boston research library materials through an interlibrary loan, those materials may not be sent to Roslindale. It urged that the research library, the last of its kind in the nation funded primarily by local taxpayers, be removed from the city budget and be supported by the state and private funds. Panel sees gradual improvement Nevertheless, the examining committee, a body of public overseers appointed by the trustees, concluded in a new report that basic services have slowly begun to improve. The report said that what is needed is continued progress, not massive changes such as recasting the research library into a statewide information center with outside funding. Liam Kelly, the acting director, opposes removing the research library form the city budget. "We don't have two libraries here", he said. In recent years, he said, the BPL has focused on its "efficiency and effectiveness" and is now working on the branches and on promoting more public use of computer based services. "We are fulfilling our role as a people's library," said Kelly. Kelly said the BPL is working more closely with Boston's public schools after a long hiatus, is offering more cultural activities such as harp recitals and silent films and has taken steps to recruit qualified librarians to fill vacancies in both the central and branch libraries. A "public needs" committee is developing plans to make the library more "warm and friendly", he said. All this comes at a time when the library is beginning a three year program of internal repair and renovation financed by a loan order authorized by the City Council last Fall. Defending the library's role in adapting to new technologies, Kelly said the BPL would soon be shifting catalog and circulation information into data and video discs that would eventually be viewable on cable television. To a large extent, the BPL's problems reflect a deep change in American culture. When Joshua Bates and other founders envisioned the library as the "crowning glory" of the city's public education system, theirs was a mission as easy to define as it was hard: gather the books and gather the people. No more. Books not enough anymore "There has been a vast fragmentation of culture", said Sam Bass Warner, a Boston University historian and chairman of the library trustee's search advisory committee. High culture is no longer just Harvard Square [print oriented intellectuals]... Now it comes in a tremendous array of forms--film, video, computer based mediums, new art forms... The book itself is going to have to make room. Ours is a more plural culture and public libraries are struggling to find a way to serve it. How best to do that isn't clear, but trying to run them like a large college library just isn't going to make it" The problems of the BPL are compounded by an administration that for years has focused on the collection of books and internal operations. "The library has turned inward and needs to push outward, now." said Warner. "It has to deal with user demands it didn't have before, for statistics, government reports and data, [new] business and consumer information." Providing better public service "doesn't take a lot of magic", Warner said. "Part of it is simply keeping hold of a lot of the popular periodical stuff, getting more books for the city's Hispanics or Southeast Asians, controlling the shelves better, and weeding the collection, making the library an easier place in which to get oriented." Acting director, Kelly said that whoever leads the library next would have "to recognize that the information function is becoming much more important". He was wary, however, of what he termed a "public relations approach" to increasing public access or private fund raising, such as the celebrated dinner parties in the courtyard of the New York Public Library. "This is a great library," said Kelly, whose near reverence for public libraries was kindled by growning up without them in Ireland. "It's great because it has a great collection." --Boston Globe, daily newspaper, Mon., April 2, 1984, p. 1
wmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/09/84)
First off, as someone who just started seeing netnews again in February after a year's hiatus, there seems to be something missing regarding the "libraries" postings in net.books -- was there some discussion here regarding the role of libraries and comparing others to the Boston one that led into this info on the Boston Public Library's problems? Reading the referenced article didn't give me an impression that this library is doing bad -- I prefer my library to stick with books, have a preservationist attitude (so the books I want to see will BE there when I want to see them), and NOT buy more copies of current best-sellers than it has to. (I'm on the reserve list for NAME OF THE ROSE here in St. Louis myself; I still don't want them to buy 27 copies so that I don't have to wait! As I recall the article, it said the BPL had 8 or 10 copies -- that's plenty!) Main libraries ARE more important than branches -- a main library should have a copy of EVERY book the system owns. Branches have extra copies, never the only copy. People who take the effort to go to the main library should get more services than those who only go to branches. Branches are for convenience only, and to keep the kids out of the main library, where they are a bother to real people. So the BPL sounds like it's doing fine by me... Will
wmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/10/84)
Why are we seeing this over and over? It's bad enough to see multiple postings of short items; I shudder to think how much disk storage worldwide is being eaten up by "n" copies of this 199-line article! Somebody stop it before it kills again!
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/11/84)
Sorry--erase command failed.
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (11/29/84)
Administrative environment at our central library in Copley Square, Boston is smug. Structure, design and ambiance, components of the physical environment isn't warm and welcoming. The building built 1972 is imperious. Read Donlyn Lyndon's comments in his book, Boston Observed. _______________ Titled officials at our library don't share their concerns for these things. Feedback should be solicited from users and visitors perceptions on a continuing basis. Suggestion boxes should be read more regularly and responses should be posted or available. Documentation on the institution should be handy and accessible by everyone. Reports, newsletters, minutes and administrative notices as well as reported testimony by officials describing the system in labor or court cases should be read by anyone wishing to know the system. Are there organization charts and directories? Obsolete documentation may be useful as pointers at least to future planning and development. This all helps people find books and records.
phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (08/12/85)
Speaking of pop psychology type books, I was just loaned a copy of
"Smart women/foolish choices". Anyone else read it?
--
Yuck! This coke tastes different!
Phil Ngai (408) 749-5720
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ARPA: amdcad!phil@decwrl.ARPA