NC Media Watch

Other Voices: When a library is more than just a catalog of books

This is my monthly column in The Union as printed with added links and a submitted, but unpublished graphic online. The graphic appeared in the paper edition along with my Columnist Byline.(updated 02-07-10)

I have been a Nevada County Library user since the third grade, when I discovered the Nevada City Library had books far more interesting than “The Adventures of Dick and Jane.”

When researching my book “Cobalt: The Legacy of the Blackbird Mine,” I spent more than 100 hours at the microfilm reader looking through old newspapers. I will spend even more on my next book project, tracing the development of Nevada County's technology cluster.

It would be a great loss to the community if our libraries were closed. I strongly support the effort to save the library with donation jars, telethons, and envelopes of donated cash.

However, are we saving the library we will need in the 21st century? Are we just saving a storehouse for the books that we all love and cherish, while ignoring the challenge of future community needs?

Let me explain. The Institute of Museum and Library Services studied Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007. They found, while library use was increasing, the circulation of books was decreasing in non-metro (rural) libraries. Over the study period, while nationwide library visits increased by 19 percent, book circulation dropped by 16 percent in rural libraries.



Visitors to the library were not coming to check out books, but to use the other services of the library: specifically, access to the Internet, to search for jobs, complete job applications and fill out online government forms.

With the current economic slowdown, our Nevada County libraries are now providing support for the job seekers. However, this is only the start of a transition that our libraries should consider.

The Davinci Institute has identified 10 key trends that will shape future library use:

Merry Christmas

To all my readers and contributors I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday! We will return to regular posting later this evening.

It is sad to be ignored, especially if you are the Sac Bee.

Russ Steele

The Sacramento Bee launched the Sierra Summit with two front page articles on global warming in the Sierra a few week ago. This followed Bee's Hot House global warming blog being closed down, when Stuart Leavenworth lost interest. He refused to discuss the science behind global warming, only the politics of climate change. Those who often visited the Hot House lost interest, because the whole basis for global warming poitics, and the resulting policy should be based on valid science. If we could not discuss the science, why visit the Hot House? So, we bloggers left the scene and the Hot House was closed.

Now the Bee has launched a new global warming blog, with two big front page splashed and only few people are commenting on the posts by Tom Knudson. On his last post there are six comments and I made four of them. I am not sure that Tom gets it, blogging is all about a conversation. It is about the exchange of ideas and sharing information on a subject of interest. I cannot find any comments by Tom, only the original text which several blogger challenged. Yet, Tom never responded.

Given all the climate change/global warming/greenhouse gas regulations being forced on Californian's by the Legislature I would think an online blog debate would attract a larger audience than just few people. More than the four of five people who visit the Sierra Summit on a regular basis. I have no idea how many people visit everyday, but whoever these visitors are they are not excited enough to become participants.

Bad science is being used to make policy and no one is concerned.  How sad, when you are the major newspaper in the region.      

In the suggestion box

Russ Steele

I read the Sac Bee Capitol Alert several times a day. To night there was this message for readers.

Thanks to all of you for reading. As always send us feedback on what you'd like covered, what you love, what you hate and what we're missing.

I sent the following:

Dear Editors,

You know if you were really sharp editors and reporters you would be looking into why the legislatures is continuing down the warming road, when it stopped warming ten years ago, and started cooling in 2003. The facts are clear. What a great expose it could be, our legislature using bad science to solve an imaginary problem and destroying our economy in the process. What a great moral issue to generate the readership you needed to save the paper from extinction.  Going against the warmers takes courage. Do you have it?

Russ Steele
530-273-XXXX

If you cannot find it, it may not exist

Russ Steele

I was checking out the newest search engine Cuil.com this morning. Cuil.com was created by some former Google engineers and launched this morning. Typing in one of my favorite topics here is the results:

We didn’t find any results for “Global Warming”
Some reasons might be...
    •    a typo. Please check your spelling.
    •    your search includes a term that is very rare. Try to find a more common substitute.
    •    too many search terms. Please try fewer terms.
Finally, try to think of different words to describe your search.

I typed "global warming" into Google and discovered 56,600,000 results for global warming. Not a great speller, I often use Google to check the spelling of a word, as they ask, "did you mean?" Yea, that is the word I wanted. Cuil.com needs a similar feature once they discover global warming.

Good news among the bad

Russ Steele

I was reading the Bee's Dan Walter's discussion of California's declining economy: Bad economic news piles up.

The bad economic news is piling up for California, with the state reporting stagnant job growth and higher unemployment and economists now agreeing that the state's recession is expanding beyond the imploding housing sector.

Then I found this buried in Walter's article, my emphasis added:

"The June data give the first indication that job losses are moving from being mainly caused by the housing slowdown to where consumer spending caution is a more important cause of job losses. It is also worth noting that more than half of the June losses were in the government sector."

Earlier this year the government job sector was growing at 3%, the fastest sector in California. It is good to read that this growth might be declining. 

Happy Fourth of July

Russ Steele

This is a down day for us, no traveling, no touring, maybe some blogging, as we just enjoying the Forth of July. Ellen is cooking up a celebration feast in the slow cooker and tonight we will watch the fire works from our lawn chairs on the shores of Huron. Have a great 4th of July where ever your are.

Road trip day three and four.

Russ Steele

Day Three: We drove through miles of uninteresting desert from Lone Pine to the KOA near Laughlin, across the river from Bullhead City AZ. There is grand attempt to create a resort along the Colorado river, but it is hard to make a desolate pile of rocks and dirt into an attractive resort.  On the other hand, I have heard many good words from my snow bird friends from Idaho about Laughlin.  Yes, Laughlin is a lot warmer than Idaho in winter, and the poker in the casinos are the best games in Nevada according to my Idaho friend Bob.

We stayed at the KOA campground. While they claimed to have free WiFi it was hard to find any in slot 853, and my mobile hotspot was as slow as dial up. Not much chance to do any blogging.

The highlight of the day was the sea food buffet at the Aquarius Casino and Resort, highly recommend by a friend of the Rebane's. The food was great and our server Carol gave the place far more charm than most casino buffets.  It was great dining experience, good food, good company and a good time with George and Jo Ann.

Day Four: This morning we crossed the mighty Colorado River on the Vets Bridge, but the river looked more like an large canal than a mighty river.  The topology changed as we climbed from the dry desert into the juniper covered mountains surrounding Flagstaff AZ, where we will spend two nights and one day touring the Grand Canyon. Ellen and I send a year in Arizona at Holbrook and once considered Flagstaff as an alternative retirement location to Nevada County, but in the final vote we chose NC.  Flagstaff came in second. 

The wind in western AZ has made being outside quite miserable, with cold gusts up to 30-40mph. Tomorrow the weather prediction for the Grand Canyon Rim is cold and windy. Where is all that global warming, it is almost May? I am hoping to find the Grand Canyon Surface Station and do a survey. If the visibility is good we should have some pictures to share.   

You might want check out George Rebane's blog Rebane's Ruminations. He is also posting his views of our joint trip to Santa Fe NM.

Day two of the road trip.

Russ Steele

It was 36 F when we got up at 5am this morning, still looking some of that global warming.  The security light next to the trailer made it look like the sun had risen.  Life takes on a different rhythm when on the road, early up and early to bed.    

The trip down SR-395 from Carson City to Lone Pine reminds me why California is so special. The view of the Sierra Nevada from the back side is awesome, with a lot of winter snow on the crest of the peaks, and in the lower down shaded gullies and small canyons.

The WiFi was free at Boulder Creek Campground, and here is a picture of George and Russ checking e-mail in the Airstream.

Day one of our road trip

Russ Steele

Our first day on the road we only do a half day of travel as the preparation are exhausting.  We are in Carson City for the night, a short first day. We had a great dinner with our friends the Rebane's, who are shadowing us for the first ten days.

Tomorrow, we are off to Lone Pine, with a side trip to the Manzanar National Historic Site.  In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women, and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II.

Anthony Watts is also on a road trip, details here.  You can follow us both across the country, visiting surface stations as we go.