The Nature of A Library

My first idea came from a paragraph that included “many public libraries have prioritized spaces for community engagement and coffee shops over books and bookshelves…For inspiration, the NYPL’s leaders did not look to other libraries, but to FedEx, Netflix, and Barnes and Noble…” (Sherman preface xvi). This inspired many different questions, such as can FedEx, Netflix, Barnes and Noble and Google be considered libraries? What importance do coffee shops and cultural centers have to a library? Why might they belong there? The same paragraph also talked about the planned change in architecture, although it is not quoted above. This brought up the question of how architecture is tied into the library. What does architecture mean in terms of a library? Why is it important? The fact that there was even a plan to change the library in the first place made me wonder if libraries today mean something different than libraries of the 20th century. Along with that, is there a universal definition of a library that spans centuries, countries and technology? All of these numerous questions mentioned lead to a more broad, elusive question: what makes a library?

On page eight of the Sherman reading, it was mentioned that the NYPL shattered the idea that public libraries were only for “a small class of rich men.” Considering that public today usually means that anyone who wants access can get access, the definition of “public” seems to have changed throughout the years. This begs the question, what does public mean and what has it meant in the past? This question is most likely linked to where libraries are placed and who can get the information within them. It would be interesting to research today’s public libraries and see if the definition of “public” is really so open as it seems.