http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2009/06/13/reference-question-of-the-week-6709/ or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk Mon, 20 May 2013 23:17:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2009/06/13/reference-question-of-the-week-6709/#comment-3015 Swiss Army Librarian » Reference Question of the Week – 7/10/11 :: Brian Herzog Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:04:45 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=688#comment-3015 [...] question made me laugh – partly because it is so odd, and partly because it’s not the first request like this that we’ve [...]

]]> http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2009/06/13/reference-question-of-the-week-6709/#comment-1054 Ellen Knowlton Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:29:30 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=688#comment-1054 Brian, this funny story begs the question: “Can libraries serve every need someone might bring through the door?” Sure, we have moved away from the old traditional model of libraries, but just how far are we going to take it? Are music practice rooms essential to our mission? Can some other organization do something better than we can? (Literacy programs and computer training come to mind when asking this question.) The more roles we assume, the more we will be asked to assume, while the funding powers that be insist that libraries are anachronistic and not worthy of the taxpayers’ support. I believe that we should identify what we can do better and more cost-effectively than anyone else, then put our best resources forward to do it.
BTW, as a reference librarian, I enjoy your Question of the Week. You never know what you’ll get next!

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