10th March 2023
I recently spent a few days in some wonderful, world-famous academic libraries, and I noticed two things different from when I was an undergraduate a few decades ago.
The first was that the library was full of working students and researchers – packed – with either almost no or no desks available.
This, on the face of it, is a good sign.
In the early 1990s I remember the same libraries being fairly empty, and you could have a whole row – sometimes a whole room – to yourself, and not just a desk.
Libraries are (ultimately) instruments and not ornaments, and so they ought to be busy and not empty.
But.
If you looked carefully, you also noticed that almost none of those working in the libraries were using any of the books from the shelves or from the stack.
Indeed, almost every student and researcher was working on a laptop (or at least staring at one).
A librarian explained to me that while they are delighted that libraries are being used more than before, they are sad that it rarely for any of the library stock.
It was more about ambiance, it seems: the librarian mentioned that students say they work better when surrounded by books, even if they are not using any.
The reason I was there was to look at some volumes from the shelves or brought up from the stacks – books which one could not get anywhere else.
And so I waited with my pile of books for a desk to become free.
And waited.
Standing there, with nothing more advanced than a pad of A4 paper and a pencil case, feeling like a dinosaur or time traveller; wondering about the paradox of book-lined libraries being more used than before, but with the books themselves as ornaments, even if the library was itself being used as an instrument.
And then I realised I was just as “culpable” – for in the olden days, one would have written a letter to a newspaper or made a private journal article about such an observation – and I am posting an electronic blogpost instead.
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A few centuries ago such libraries were solely for the use of Gentlemen and Academics, the undergraduates and students would not be allowed in. Perhaps there needs to be a “private” reading room for those with sufficient credentials, so as to allow Serious people a guaranteed space?
I am hardly a “serious” person: I am a blogger. And it is nice to see libraries so busy, and so I am torn.
Whether you are a serious person or not a serious person is for you to decide. But the blogging that you do is serious in nature and content – if sometimes wry in style – and, since we are grateful for it, you must forgive us if we mistake you for a serious person from time to time.
The pandemic and lockdowns, of course, only accelerated for University libraries the trend to make as much material as possible, particularly essential reading, available online, as students physically couldn’t get into libraries. (Librarian in a UK university speaking here.)
Now that students have returned to campus, the habit of reading largely online has seemingly been sustained. Online availability of key reading arguably also supports inclusivity – benefiting distance learners, students with caring responsibilities or jobs who may find it hard to get to the Library often, and students with visual impairments for whom e-resources are compatible with screen reader software, for example. Many libraries will do their best to give students a choice of format – so always having a print copy available as well as an e-book. (In many cases, though, publishers flat out refuse to sell libraries an e-book version, hence the #ebooksos campaign at https://academicebookinvestigation.org/)
Many University libraries are, therefore, finding that rates of print book loans are continuing to fall (print book use *in* the Library is harder to measure and to some extent does vary by discipline).
On the other hand, we have lots of evidence that as David says, libraries as communal study spaces – whether for group work in some areas, or working silently surrounded by other people being studious in others – are hugely valued. Our students hated not being able to get into the Library during lockdowns, told us so repeatedly, really missed the spaces, and are now back in them in a big way.
I rarely loaned books from the library because you often only needed 1-2 chapters for a particular subject. You could read that while in the library and make your notes, then (hopefully) return the book to its shelf or to a trolley for restacking. Then repeat with as many books as you want.
An interesting observation David. I fear the increase in heating costs could also be a contributory factor; if the libraries are equally occupied in warmer weather, my suspicion will be unfounded.
a) Students go home over the summer.
b) Even as the weather warms up in April-May, many students are preparing for and taking exams, which might mean different studying habits.
You have touched upon something I also feel every time I go into our local library. Busy with people reading newspapers or studying but no sign of activity near the book shelves.
The building itself has a proud Victorian facade that seems to say “I will be here forever.” But the library has twice been saved from closure by public campaigns.
Looking at the stock of books, it isn’t great to be honest, and I buy four books from Amazon for every book I borrow from the library. Guilt all round….
Those of us who went to law school in the 1960s and then, again in the 1990s (when, having retired from the U.S. Foreign Service I studied for a doctorate in law at UCLouvain) would not be surprised at the use of computers rather than bound books. In fact, in 2002 the Int’l J. of Legal Information published an article of mine “Towards Cooperation in Access to Foreign Primary Law” presaging the (hopefully free: at that time the British Government was still charging for online downloads) sourcing of primary law (and law reports) from paper to online. My daughter is an MA student at UCL now and she rarely goes to any of their wonderful libraries: she has full remote access to everything digital that they own or subscribe to. Maybe if we lived close by she would, but we don’t and she doesn’t. Even many of her classes have been Webinars. And several of her classmates live abroad, one or two in China.
We are lucky. We can read a book and then follow an often fascinating trail of complementary information from a myriad of sources on the net. (Especially true, I find, with history books).
In the same way, your letter to the editor makes an interesting blog.
We are lucky ……………………
We were once able to do research on library/e-library usage. Students were allocated randomly to one of two campuses, one of which had a University library on site, the other didn’t (but had one elsewhere in town). However, students on both campuses were given access to three separate electronic libraries, containing all the journals and books they would need. The students with a library on site unsurprisingly used the ‘real’ library more. But they also used the e-libraries more as well. In part this was because they had this pleasant study space, in part because they had helpful librarians to hand to help with e-searching. The funding body weren’t very happy – they wanted us to find that e-libraries were better than ‘real’ ones…
I had friends at Uni who did all their studying in the library, doing none in their bedroom. They treated studying like an office job with fixed hours. They had a better study/life balance than me, who studied in my bedroom, and worked with fewer distractions. They tended to get better degrees.
[Full disclosure: as well as devotedly devouring this excellent blog, I chair the Advisory Council of the British Library.]
Libraries are about so much more than books – just as, say, music is about so much more than notes drawn on lined paper.
Libraries are places of reflection, retreat, community, organisation, expert advice, discovery, warmth, security, access, refuge and respite, intellectual nourishment and emotional repair. The British Library loves the fact that, often, every single seat in its massive public spaces is occupied. Fun fact: typically around half the people occupying those seats, hold a Reader’s card – and so could be using the much quieter Reading Rooms, where the Library’s enormous holdings – 170 million items – can be physically accessed. They choose instead the less cloistered atmosphere of the public space. We don’t mind, whatever and even whether they are reading or writing. They are enjoying and sustaining one of civilisation’s greatest assets.
Increasingly, as you note, stuff is easily accessed online. Yet still they come, and long may they do so.
This brave new world of vast libraries of information online places an even greater emphasis, surely, on the critical skills of their users, often students delving into them without the support of formally trained librarians and archivists.
Yesterday evening, as a result of reading a specialist book, albeit a Kindle one, written by a recognised author in his field and published by a reputable publishing house, I discovered some British cavalry regiments were issued not with smoothbore carbines, but Baker rifled carbines.
So what, you may reasonably say?
Well, as a Napoleonic wargamer with at least one British regiment that definitely bore these arms amongst my collection, I was interested to know how prolific was their use in the field.
Back in the day, I might have sought to assuage my curiosity by availing myself of the excellent services of Birmingham City Council’s libraries, but odds on I would not have thought it worth the time and effort.
I more than satisfied my interest by seeking out information on websites like those of the National Army Museum; Royal Armouries and that of an auctioneer and valuer. The latter type of site is quite useful when seeking accurate information in this line of research, given their emphasis on provenance and insight into the efforts some sellers make to enhance the value of the items they are putting up for sale.
Wikipedia was helpful, too, as unless someone is being mischievous with the editing of an entry for a weapon, the site may be more reliable than when seeking, say, details of the biography of a prominent Member of Parliament.
Along the way, I discovered a strong connection with Birmingham’s gun manufactories and the fact that most contemporary military men, armourers and manufacturers would have been baffled by questions about the Baker rifle.
The name only became popular and generic to describe a rifled musket in British service after the weapons ceased to be issued to the British Army.
According to the website of the 2nd Battalion 95th (of which the fictional Richard “Dick” Sharpe was a member) re-enactment Regiment the words “Baker Rifle” are banned, as the original 95th rifleman would not have known it as this. If a rifleman utters these words within earshot of an officer or NCO it will normally be followed by an order to run around the camp with the “British Infantry Rifle” above his head.
We have, as so often in these cases, Victorians to thank for tidying up history for the ease of study by future generations.
A point I am sure not lost on flesh and blood librarians when advising students to consider carefully the provenance of sources of information before relying too heavily upon them.
One must be grateful the Victorians never had access to Wikipedia.
It is amazing what one may find on the Internet in such a short space of time, about an hour, after reading an entry in a book.
Fortunately, I was taught history by a teacher who thought even 11 year olds ought to know how to sort the wheat from the chaff when undertaking historical research.
I am a regular user of libraries (there are two within walking distance of my home, and a third is the briefest of brief detours past the stop from which I catch my bus home from work), and I do use them for their original purpose of borrowing books, as well as sometimes for other purposes. I have in the past used library computers, but rarely so now. Even an avid user of computers like me needs to avoid the screen every so often.
It was ever thus, in public libraries at least. When I was a child I used to go to the local library with my mother. I wondered why it had a reading room which was mostly taken up by people as old as my grandparents. I founded that it was used as a place to go, read the papers and keep warm. Not the intended purpose but a very useful alternative.
Not sure whether hallowed and hushed halls lined with leather bound tomes are instruments or ornaments. Probably there to impress the tourists.
I suspect students are grateful for good internet access and warmth and company and will find almost nothing of any use in those leather bound books that is not already a pdf file. At least not until they have retired from their chosen profession and decide to look up the origins of this or that obscure topic. We never fully understand something until it no longer matters.
This is not to say I am in favour of a book bonfire, they are nice to look at, provide heat insulation and provide work for restorers to do. But I do sometimes think that old manuscripts are best off in stout well locked oaken chests tucked away in dry muniment rooms to be visited once per century or so. Conservation is something of an industry I fear, to be kept a very very small one.
“Libraries represent different things to different people – from a place where mothers can take toddlers to read their first stories and students can study, to a service allowing anyone to borrow a book, access the Internet or do research. Quite simply, libraries offer a means by which we can gain access to knowledge.”
Ben White, Head of Intellectual Property, British Library
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2012/04/article_0004.html
I think gaining access to knowledge is a great way to think about how libraries are changing with the growth in e-resources. At one time you would have had to have a physical book published and distributed to share knowledge. Now, there are other options. Yes you have to be careful about sources online, but that is the case with books too (and it’s much easier to find someone’s biases when you can look them up).
I went to uni 2001-04 and 2010-11 and there was no shortage of students in the libraries. The first was open until midnight most days and the second was open 24/7 (and yes, people were there in the early hours). A lot of research has moved online (or is available in multiple formats) so it makes sense that students would be on laptops, coupled with the fact that all work has to be typed, and often submitted electronically.
I personally tended to use the books while I was in the library, reading and making notes but rarely loaning; and accessed journal articles online, so I could download the PDFs and highlight, rather than paying to photocopy.
The still quite new and wonderful Helsinki central library has a vast range of available facilities from sewing machines to 3D printers, and even lots of books.
It buzzes with activity and is a delight in every way.