Communities

Communities

Quote from Wiki: “The term community has two distinct commutative meanings: 1) Community can refer to a usually small, social unit of any size that shares common values. The term can also refer to the national community or international community, and 2) in biology, a community is a group of interacting living organisms sharing a populated environment.”



So I am thinking what would be the community for a library. For a public library, I think it’s a community sharing a populated environment. For academic library or other types of library, it might be a unit that shares common values. In a community, people have common intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs or risks. And due to the advent of the Internet, the concept of community has less geographical limitation for digital libraries such as JSTOR. As people can now gather virtually in any online community and share common interests regardless of physical location just by simply clicking the button.



And libraries vary from each other based on their communities. I mean, a public library is a more general library than an academic library which has a community formed by scholars and knowledge professionals. A library would also adjust itself to meet its community’s needs. I was doing the Rapid Response 2 for IST 511 class, analyzing why there was a gender gap in salary. And I thought the community could be a main reason for that as well. An academic library might get a large amount of funding than a public library.

Picture of Communities. Retrieved from http://www.igorinjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CommunityManager.jpg

Library as Platform

Library as Platform

It’s really a cool idea to me. Library is a platform to exchange information. It’s like a win-win game. Library could gain more collections from its community, while patrons get what they want. A new way to facilitate knowledge creation. In my mind, a platform is like a desk. People can share things with each other. Besides traditional books, journals, members may also exchange other format of information. They could even teach their professional skills in the library.

I’ve been thinking a question for a long time. As a platform, whether a library provides space for people to seek comfort. I mean if a patron is sad, lonely or has a hard time in his life, and he comes to a library in his community. What should a library do for him? Librarians recommend some books like Chicken Soup? Or would a librarian chat with him to comfort him? Or he could talk with other patrons in their community? Because I’m watching a Korean drama The Heirs these days. One of the main characters in this show suffered a hard time in his life. So I began to wonder, if he could feel better when he went to a library.

Picture of The Heirs. Retrieved from http://1.viki.io/c/12699c/ffd6b2b99c.jpg?x=b&s=590x330&q=h&e=t&f=t&cb=1

Why Libraries

Why Libraries

I used to patronize Heilongjiang Provincial Library when I was in high school. There were readers’ study rooms on the first, second and sixth floor. I enjoyed the quiet study room on the first floor and the open horizons on the second floor. I don’t like the sixth floor study room, it’s quite a small room usually with a lot of people. My favorite is the second floor, it's kind of learning commens. It’s actually a square. There are some desks and chairs, no walls to form a closed space. When you look up, you can see the sky. It is a great place to read and study. One reason I like this space is that the diligence of other people could motivate me. It always works well. When I was in this environment, I would study harder. There is also no sign of “Be Quiet” here, people can discuss with each other when they come across problems. I like the scenery around, it’s a great spot. After reading for a while, look around and see outside, it’s a place to relax and alleviate eye fatigue.

Here are pictures of second floor study space below:

It is the founder of one of the oldest public libraries in my province, and it is affiliated with the library system that serves Heilongjiang, China. This library founded in 1906 (Qing Dynasty, Guangxu three years). In 1957, the provincial government decided to build a new library. And it was officially opened in 1962. The new library adjacent to the Asia's first high steel tower - Dragon Tower, construction area of ​​33,000 square meters, the design size of 3.5 million books, reading seats more than 1,700. New museum with its unique "Cultural Ark" image shows the new view of cultural construction in Heilongjiang Province.

References

Heilongjiang Provincial Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pic.dbw.cn/0/02/87/65/2876540_929772.jpg

Heilongjiang Provincial Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-08/06/xin_16208050616216251258926.jpg

Heilongjiang Provincial Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.szodec.com/Files/%E9%BB%91%E9%BE%99%E6%B1%9F%E7%9C%81%E5%9B%BE%E4%B9%A6%E9%A6%861.jpg