Friends of the Libraries' Guest Columnist Features Libraries are the heart of communities By L. Alan Goldsberry November 6, 2004 The Athens Messenger

What do you think of when you envision a library? I think of bookcases, volumes of books, a book retrieval system, a stern and correct librarian, a reading area for children, and formal adult reading rooms. I think of community institutions, and I order libraries with police and fire departments, schools, and churches. Growing up in a working class family, the library was for me to be afforded respect just like those other institutions where important things transpired.

The library was seen as a place where knowledge is stored and learning takes place, if the visitor used it properly. Do you think that concept from 40 or 50 years ago has changed for the average citizen today?

I have been concerned about the role libraries will play in the live of citizens in the future. I have served more than a decade as a trustee of the Athens County Law Library Association. Its board consists of three lawyers appointed by the Bar Association to receive and invest funds to maintain a law library--a professional library to provide research support for the local legal community. Every county in Ohio has such a library. The trustees select and authorize purchases of materials by a librarian that they appoint and local judges approve. As you might expect, large counties have large law libraries and smaller counties tend to have smaller libraries. These facilities were not created to be public, but the Athens law library is operated as though it were public. The Athens County Commissioners provide the space and equipment (bookcases, tables, etc.) and the trustees, through monies provided by local courts (and especially the municipal court), purchase books, CD-ROMs, computer research services, and rent or buy copiers.

It seems books are becoming obsolete. The time when the young impoverished lawyer would have to go to the courthouse library to read the Ohio Revised Code is gone. Internet-based legal research systems like Westlaw and Lexis have become the norm. Attorneys can research the Code and read the case law on their laptop or office computers. They use discs or an Internet connection instead of books. This development has required attorneys Gerald Mollica, Garry Hunter, and myself as the law library trustees to look at our duties very differently.

I am sure trustees across the state have had similar experiences. I would think home computers and the Internet would also similarly impact public libraries and even the publishing industry. Nevertheless, several articles I have read suggest the late 1980s until now has been a period of renaissance for libraries.

My primary source for this conclusion is Governing Magazine. It is a publication that is available online and in printed form, distributed primarily to persons who work in local, state, or nation government. The magazine in January 1996, October 2001, and April 2003 issues explains what has happened to libraries in recent years. The new libraries--and there are a number of them--now play host to many activities that are far from quiet reading. Receptions, fund-raisers, weddings, banquets, and meetings commonly are scheduled in libraries today. Isn't that true in our community to some extent today? Politicians debate in libraries in Athens. Service clubs and other organizations have business meeting in library community rooms in Athens County. That is consistent with the magazine's contention that libraries and branch libraries are community centers today.

The last library building spree was in the 1950s as the Carnegie libraries (2,500 of them) were aging. But, the libraries constructed in the '50s often are not adaptable to the current technology (Internet and satellite connections). Their floor plans often are not conducive to some activities that now regularly occur in the community library. Libraries have tremendous political support across the country and even in difficult economic times. Their popularity seems to exceed that of public schools or social service agencies, as reflected in a high success rate for library ballot issues.

It just seems that exciting things have happened to libraries across the country. Many new library buildings are architectural pace setters--not boxy and stodgy, but dramatic and dynamic. The Phoenix library is cited as an example. It is clad in 100,000 pounds of copper and two ends of the building have eight story glass walls.

The broader use of libraries is another trend. Libraries are more than just a place to vote. Exercise and dance classes may be offered in them. Branch libraries seem to be "community living rooms" with widescreen TVs, comfortable chairs and couches, and maybe even a coffee shop. People go to libraries to check e-mail. It is a good place for a new resident to establish an identity, get to know people, and keep up with the news.

I am pleased that most of these movements have come to Athens County in the last twenty years. We have new branch libraries in Albany, Glouster, Athens and Coolville. The main public library in Nelsonville has grown and has been modernized. The Athens branch, which is embarking on an expansion project, will include an outdoor theater.

The fears about people retreating to home computers for all research and personal inquiries do not seem to be materializing. People are visiting libraries in droves to satisfy many kinds of personal needs. I hope that phenomenon continues and even increases.

L. Alan Goldsberry is a judge in the Athens County Common Pleas court.