What is library

What is the pronunciation of library? Browse Libra. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day sweetheart. Blog Outsets and onsets! Read More. November 08, To top. English Intermediate Examples Collocations Translations. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge. Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes. Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans.

Sign up now or Log in. Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Follow us. Choose a dictionary. Public Library: Functions and Objectives August 22, Law Librarianship July 18, Shuaibu aminu ibrahim on April 22, pm. Ibrahim sada gmail. Usman haruna abdullahi on January 31, am. Thanks for the contributing of these definitions Reply.

Dammy on May 10, am. Helpful tho Reply. Isaac on July 1, am. Please I need 5 library definition and the authors Reply. In the past they may have been the primary means and I think even that could be debated , but they were never the end itself. In England, many lending libraries did begin as a way to cost share, but the huge public library movements in America did not come from that ethos. They came from a belief in the importance of literacy, education, and much as we like to forget — moral indoctrination.

I am always frustrated by arguments about digital ubiquity that ignore the privilege they bring to the discussion. All the literature on the digital divide emphasizes that access is only one small aspect of the problem. I also object to the position that it is libraries who are trying to make it difficult for patrons to use ebooks. While we have certainly failed to negotiate better contracts with our vendors, that is not the same thing as actively seeking to make ebooks more like print books.

The implication that libraries want or actively sought out this solution is just not true. I completely agree with your closing sentences, but argue that what you propose is exactly what public libraries do. One last comment: perhaps I am speaking more about the ppopular impression of what a library is for, rather than what libraries think of themselves as for.

How do libraries position themselves then, and how will they maintain the support of the communities that pay for them? I think this comment is getting at what I failed to express with my digital divide comment and may fail again to express well here. Anyway, this is all a tangent to your piece and not at all a critique of it. Just a personal lament :. The history of libraries in America shows the purpose of libraries to be a public place of education and civic engagement… They came from a belief in the importance of literacy, education, and much as we like to forget — moral indoctrination.

I wonder though if you asked around your communities what people would say? And indeed in my role on the board of the Atwater Library we spent lots of time trying to figure out how we could craft a message that resonated more widely with the wider population, how we could shift the institution from being primarily about books, to something completely different.

We succeeded to some degree. That could have been clearer, I suppose. Where is the blockage? After posting my comment I did stop and wonder if this post was more about budget distribution, so thank you for clarifying that point. Excellent article, but I would suggest a couple of things.

I certainly agree that book lending will need to substantially change. However the largest budget expenditure for most libraries is in fact the staff and not the lending materials. Which is why I would have as first in your definitions of what is a library for. To provide a range of services to the public through the use of professional librarian staff. As to the chapter on fake friction, I would agree and say that libraries have conspicuously failed to provide, anticipate or manage ebooks.

Libraries had enormous forewarning of ebooks rise, but failed to act, failed to organise and failed to negotiate, thus we are left with OverDrive and whatever terms HarperCollins etc. NOTE: I am not necessarily saying that we should slash book lending budgets. The importance of that service will continue to wane, in my opinion. So how will libraries adapt?

Pingback : Akma » Yes, Indeed! I agree that library as a community gathering place is extremely important. Programming is a popular service and can be easily geared toward any group of people, young and old, of any ethnicity, education level, socio-economic level. Another purpose of libraries is to fight for intellectual freedom, defend free speech and expression, and stand up to censorship.

Yes, I think so, but I wonder how much support public libraries get for that work, within the governments that typically fund them, and the populations they typically serve?

This is really the challenge for libraries, I think: to make the case that they are central pillars that make for healthy communities — books, ebooks, or otherwise. Ellie expressed, and far more coherently at that, everything I am feeling in this moment. I, too, had a strong knee-jerk reaction to this piece, for the simple reason that I cannot, CANNOT understand why we are in such a mad rush to divest ourselves of everything human, tactile, tangible, physical, in favor of all that is cold, clinical, impersonal, digital.

But I will stand by my mad world to its bitter end, rather than go quietly into that horrid dark night, in which the tactile, sensual pleasure of a print book — made, I might add, from renewable resources instead of conflict metals that exploit workers and colonialize the digital sphere still further — are valued and cherished. As a librarian-cartoonist who often self-publishes using print-on-demand services made possible by our digital tech, that is , I have sympathy for this knee-jerk reaction.

Actually, what worries me even more is the loss of diversity of materials, that we will throw all of our eggs into a digital basket and sacrifice all of the wonderful analog options we have created the past years — not counting years of bookmaking, of course. Consumers now have a lot of choice to meet their information needs and their different learning styles. Digital will actually increase access drastically:.

Billions of people live without any access to libraries or bookstores but have phones, the fast majority of which will within a few years be internet-connected smartphones fully suitable for reading. Budget pressures mean library hours are increasingly limited and book acquisition budgets constrained, further limiting practical access.

Every eBook can license terms and SW permitting be read out loud with text-to-speech functionality. How many audio books does your library stock? Digital is making a vastly increased selection of books available to all.

Hugh, what a great piece. And while that is certainly true, these days books take different shapes, such as e-books and audio books. More than just books, libraries are places of information, offering people free access to a wealth of information that they often can't find elsewhere, whether online, in print or in person.

Whether they're looking for DVDs or the latest best-seller; health or business information found on internet databases not accessible at home, or going for story times and community programming, the library is a center of community for millions of people. America's , libraries fall into four basic types with a few added variations : Public, School, Academic and Special. There are also Armed Forces libraries, Government libraries and multi-use or Joint-Use libraries, which combine library types in one service area or structure.

Learn more about America's libraries. At the center of all types of libraries is the librarian. Librarians are information experts, selecting books relevant to the community, creating helpful programming, and connecting people to information. Libraries are community hubs. In addition to connecting people to information, libraries connect people to people. They are safe havens for kids when school is not in session, offering after school homework help, games and book clubs.

Libraries offer computer classes, enabling older adults stay engaged in a digital world.