The library of the 21st century

VOCABULARY –Ways of reading

1 Complete the quiz. Compare your results with another student. Do you think the quiz is accurate?

How you read: Deep, shallow or not at all?

1 Before I go on holiday I…
a) pore over maps and guidebooks, learning everything I can about the place.
b) flick through a guidebook to check out the highlights.
c) pack my clothes and toothbrush. Why would I read anything?

2 When I write something for school or work, before I hand it in I…

a) scrutinise it for errors, checking down to the last letter and punctuation.
b) get someone to cast an eye over it to make sure things are more or less alright.
c) press ‘send’. I’m not preoccupied with perfection.

3 If I were to have a job interview with a company, beforehand I would…

a) read up on the company to show that I know all about their operations.
b) dip into any literature I can find about the company, just to catch key bits.
c) practise the company jingle and hum it during the interview.

4 When I get a new computer or phone, first I…

a) plough through the manual so that I understand everything there is to know, dull as the manual can be.
b) peruse every word of the quick start guide so I am confident with the basics.
c) turn the device on and figure things out for myself.

2 Look at the words in bold. Which refer to a) quick or shallow reading b) slow, careful or deep reading?

3 Work in pairs. For each verb in bold, think of one more thing that you read in the way the word describes.

VIDEO -The library of the 21st century https://www.cbsnews.com/news/welcome-to-the-library-of-the-21st-century/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4QxDOCagxg&t=189s

LEAD-IN
 When did you last go to a library? What for?
 What is the best/most unusual library you have visited?

VIDEO
Watch the video through and answer the questions.
 What can users find in a state-of-the-art library today?

 What does the following refer to in the video?

Tropic of Cancer most unexpected physical item
shushing a community hub
public engagement social safety nets
obsolescence
SPEAKING -Reading
• Why is reading important?
• How have your reading habits changed over time?
• What are your reasons for reading today? How do you choose how to read?
• How can literacy standards be improved among children?
• How important is for school students to read the classics?
• Are you in favour of best sellers and literary awards? Why (not)?
• What influence are social media & technology having on our reading habits?
• To what extent should administrations prioritise funding institutions like libraries?
1
Mostly a)s: You're extremely thorough in preparing for things and perhaps a bit of a perfectionist. You have a
strong belief in, even a reverence for, the power of the written word. You probably have a good-sized library at
home and never throw out a book.

Mostly b)s: You don't like to push yourself with reading, and often do just enough' - in fact that's how you are
with a lot of tasks, just doing enough, not more. You may nevertheless be an avid reader of fiction.

Mostly c)s: So reading is not your thing, or at least the written text is not your favourite way of getting and giving
information. You're a pragmatist about everything, dealing with issues as they come up and not really
worrying about problems unless they're real.

2
a) flick through, cast an eye over, dip into
b) pore over, scrutinise, read up on, plough through (negative connotation), peruse

pore over = to read something very carefully for a long time

pe’ruse = (formal) to read through something, especially in order to find the part you are interested in> pe’rusal
plough through = to read all of something, even though you think it is boring and takes a long time
read up on = to read a lot about something because you will need to know about it
scrutinise = to examine something very carefully

3
Suggested answers
Pore over –a report, a sports report, a love letter, a catalogue, an auction website
Flick through – a magazine, a book to see if you want to buy it, a photo album
Scrutinise – a contract, a bank statement, a legal document, a proposed merger
Cast an eye over –someone’s writing to check what they’ve asked you, a draft document checking quickly for
errors, junk mail in case there’s anything of interest
Read up on –the grammar to be covered in the next English class, a tourist site you are going to visit
Dip into –a book of poems, a book of short stories, a magazine to read one article
Plough through –a report, a grammar book, revision notes before an exam
Pe’ruse –a contract, a bank statement, your medical report, a catalogue/auction website > pe’rusal
VIDEO
This you're not going to believe. The New York public library says that I took out Tropic of Cancer in 1971 and never returned it.
Do you know how much that comes to? That's a nickel a day for 20 years. It's gonna be $50 000.
It doesn't work like that.
If, like Jerry Seinfeld, you still haven't returned that library book you borrowed in 1971, prepare to be surprised by what you fin d when
you do. With Conor Knighton, time to check out the library 2022.
On a recent Monday morning, the citizens of Kanawha County, West Virginia, came to check out a new chapter in the life of an old
institution.
These are no longer warehouses of books. These are marketplaces of ideas. This is a community's living room.
After more than two years and 32 million dollars in renovations, downtown Charleston's Public Library reopened to the public. Inside
visitors discovered a brand new café, a tool lending library, an idea lab full of the latest technology. There was an excitement you could
see and hear, which is exactly what the librarians were hoping for.
Librarians from time immemorial like you're 'Shh'!
Are we beyond the age of shushing?
We're beyond the age of that, yeah.
Erika Connelly is the director of the Kanawha County Library. From podcasting booths to computerized sewing machines to augmented
reality screens, the facility has been updated for the modern age.
I tell you what I'm not seeing here. I'm not seeing a ton of books.
Yeah, no. We have 3-D machines. We have robotics. We have 3-D pens.
While there are still plenty of books, the redesign allowed the staff to rethink how they were displayed.
It was more about the engagement, how we wanted our public to engage within the library, and it wasn't at the shelves, it wasn't just
grabbing a book and then leaving. We wanted them to stay.
Across the country, library attendance has declined at 21% from 2009 to 2019, but borrowing has actually increased. It's just moved
online as collections have shifted from physical to digital material. That’s caused libraries to shift their thinking in terms of what might
bring people through the doors.
Good morning, welcome. Good morning, welcome.
Austin Public Library director, Roosevelt Weeks, begins each day greeting patrons as they enter the downtown branch.
Hey, boss! What's going on, man?
The 200 000 square foot building fills up fast. I mean, you've been open for all of nine minutes at this point and it's bustling already.
It's always like that.
People come to Austin's library to play board games, video games, games of giant chess. Alongside the actual books, there are
Chromebooks and Macbooks to check out. The teen area hosts jam sessions featuring the library's collection of guitars.
What do you think it's the most unexpected physical item that you can check out at the library?
Seeds.
Seeds?
Yes. If you want to plant a garden, we have seeds that you can check out.
So, that's not something you have to return, right? There's no late fees on seeds?
The return is, come show us what you got from your garden.
When Austin's Central Library opened in 2017, it instantly became a community hub. Visitation increased in subsequent years.
Were you here on opening day?
Oh gosh! I was here. It was one of the most glorious days of my life. You know, we had 17,000 people waiting to get into this building.
The building itself is part of the draw. Bright and open, full of spaces to lounge and meet, modern libraries are attempting to meet the
needs of today while staying flexible for the future.
More and more of these libraries are being built so that they have very open floor plans and I think part of that is that vision of long term.
We don't know what the next thing might be.
Miguel Figueroa is the former director of the Center for the Future of Libraries.
It's really easy to think about the future as exclusively technological, and I think a lot of libraries are keeping pace with that. At the same
time, I think we're starting to see that there's a really great future for these institutions as place -the value of having an open public place
in your city, in your neighbourhood. In 2009 the city of San Francisco became the first in the country to hire a full-time social worker for
its main library. Dozens of cities across the country have followed suit.
A lot of the social safety nets have been underfunded or removed and unfortunately that often means that there's a crunch on other
public institutions like public libraries. They are very trusted institutions and people feel welcome within them.
People like Andrew Constatino, who for a time was a daily visitor to the downtown Seattle Library.
The library is like your grandmother's house. If you're homeless or living in poverty, that's exactly what it's like when you are allowed to
be at the library, whereas, you know, if you're homeless, you're not allowed to be many places.
Years ago Constatino was living on the Seattle streets and in shelters. The library was his refuge, a place to get out of the rain and get
back on his feet.
You mentioned the importance of feeling welcome here. What was it like to not feel welcome elsewhere?
Oh, it sucks. You know, it's like everywhere in our society, you have to buy access, you know. If I want to use your bathroom , I have to
buy a soda pop.
Public libraries are public, a place where everyone can come together. In one room, recent immigrants practice English. In another, first-
time computer users learn how to navigate the internet. The internet, an always-on limitless hub of information, didn't replace libraries,
it may have made them more essential.
The side effects of some of the technologies where we do become so focused in on online information or online discourse that we forget
how to connect with other people. Libraries retrain you I think to be a member of the public, to be part of the civic discourse.
While Covid made those connections challenging, most libraries close during the height of the pandemic.
There's been a recent slew of grand openings. Newly renovated libraries have popped up everywhere, from Flint, Michigan, to
Fayetteville, Arkansas, … from Spokane, Washington, to Washington, D.C.
I really think that far from any idea that some people might have that the library is somehow obsolescent, you know, or irrelevant, it is
actually the opposite. I think that our society as a whole needs more institutions and public areas that are like the library. It's much more
a model for how we should treat other people than just an artefact of the past.