The latest staple of our childhoods to bit the dust is the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica. So farewell, Britannica, we're glad we knew you...

According to the news I heard, they actually haven't published a new printed set since 2010, but will continue to provide their content to subscribers -- but in an online-only version.

I'm sure this makes sense, but it is a bit mind-blowing. How many of us - as grade schoolers -- got sent to the school library to learn how to do research by writing a report on a topic assigned to us by our teachers? Use of the venerable "EB" as a major report-writing resource was sort of a rite of passage into the upper grades, as I recall.

And how many of our parents were visited by a traveling salesman who sold them on buying a set of encyclopedia for the home? In my case, my parents fell prey to the Grolier "Book of Knowledge" salesman. I recall we had a nice bookcase the books all fit into. And we got annual updates - yearbooks, I guess they were - to keep us up on the latest in information technology.

My teachers weren't always as excited about my use of the BK for my reports, but according to Amazon it looks like it is still available, though I can't quite determine if it is current. Might be the 2006 edition.

My kids still referenced encyclopedias as a first information-gathering step toward report-writing. Though we DID make trips to the library for other resource material.

I wonder how long these heavy tomes will be used for their original purpose? I can imagine a time when they become relegated to weights -- something to be used to press flowers or as easy-to-grab exercise equipment?

After all, another famed (mostly female) use of Britannica volumes was to help us learn to stand and walk tall -- while wearing a volume of the book on our heads!

Farewell to a very useful old friend!!

You know, with the Internet, I can't see how any libraries stay open. And probably the book stores will go out, as well.

The internet has changed the way libraries offer their services, but they do far more: our local library stocks not only print volumes but also audio books, cds, dvds, and historical documents. They also offer help with genealogy research, tax preparation, and job applications -- most of which have to be done online now. They maintain a bank of computers that can be used for anything; a lot of people still don't have a computer. They also offer kits for book clubs, meeting rooms for the public, sponsor book discussions, and have extensive children's and adult programs.

It's a public meeting area that is used by the entire city, it seems, and that's a good thing. Oh yeah, and they also deliver books and other materials to shut-ins.

I'm on our Friends of the Library board and our big mission is to help the library through two major book sales we hold every year (the book sale is held in the library auditorium and nearby rooms). Our income supports the children's programs and many other purchases and equipment for the library.

I'm an apologetic supporter of libraries not just as places of knowledge but also as invaluable community resources. I think they're about the best use of tax dollars we have. I hope we never let our libraries go away, no matter what form they take or how they present information.

Ellemm, I love your unapologetic support of public libraries. And you are correct in everything that you say.

Libraries no longer resemble the silent places we used as kids, or even the slightly friendlier places we may have taken our kids for story hour as young women. They have evolved.

I didn't really realize how much libraries now do for their communities until a few years ago when our web design company (now called BoomerCo Inc., but then operating under the eponymous name of Anne Holmes & Associates) created a website for a public library in the Quad Cities, where we used to live.

THAT library did everything you say and more. For one thing, even back then, they had a nice little coffee/sandwich shop called "Dewey's Cafe" located right within the building. (Cute, library-oriented name, huh?)

And, in looking at that web site now, I see they are set up to allow patrons to download audiobooks and e books from home and the ability to input your library card's barcode number into your computer, to do a variety of types of research from home! How cool is that?!

The web design that library uses is no longer ours, but at the moment, our web design company, BoomerCo, is in the running to design a site for our local library here in Galena. They don't have a new physical facility, but I know they too, have barcodes on the cards. So maybe all libraries are into allowing patrons to download content from home now.

All I can say is "support your local public library!"

I too support and frequent libraries.Its a far different place than when I was a child.Locally we have updated our use...people have a help desk to aid their rentals and community support.Children are brought by teachers and look as if they are well on the way to being users.
If I moved home a library would be my first call...the notice board always has up to date information.During summer when we rent a cottage at the shore my home library card allows me access not only to books but to computers...the spoken word cds are also a favourite...Daily papers and comfort corners with soft seats are always being used.Its a welcoming place a haven.

It's great to hear from those of you who wholeheartedly have been served well by your local libraries and still believe in their core mission.

Ellen - your work for the library board invaluable.

I guess I do have an opinion since I am professionally, a librarian by training and career-wise (not in public libraries, specialized libraries) but switched careers in the last few years, simply because of happenstance and I needed a job.

Public libraries (at least the bigger ones) have entered into licensing agreements for fee-based research databases. That's why as a paying taxpayer you might be able to search and download journal articles with your library bar code number. It's a service and convenience for users.

Some of the bigger libraries are also starting to offer e-books instead of just hardcover books. Again they pick up the cost of the license through local tax base.

But above all libraries have evolved (and should) into places where people meet to exchange ideas and opinions. That is fundamentally central to what a library have doing all along: stimulate new thought and explore new ideas. Learn. So a trend to have local guest speakers, discussion forums or a place to have a coffee just outside the doors of the library.

There should always be a quiet place to study, read. But there should be other space where users can chat up and talk normally.

Thanks for your professional librarian's input on this discussion, Orchid. I had no idea that was your training. I, for one, have benefited from many of the new services libraries are now offering. And I appreciate these new services.

I guess it is similar to the stuff I have been hearing from my sister who is the assistant curator at a large county museum in Wisconsin. She's been educating me lately on the many ways museums have changed from over the last few decades. Now, instead of simply providing an accessible repository for safely archived materials, museums are also becoming very interactive and multifaceted.

I see the changes in both libraries and museums as being big efforts toward making them even more valuable to the publics they serve.

I know folks without access to the internet and they frequent the library and use those computers. Groovy and I attended the Museum of Science and they provided recorded information via head-phones with each display. Disney is using interactive displays in some attractions, as well! In my hometown, the library is a place for social gatherings, book clubs, etc. I hope my previous post on this subject did NOT sound like I'm anti-library. I have friends working at the libraries.