"No longer a passive repository of books and information or an outpost of culture, quiet and decorum ina noisy world, the new library is an active and responsive part of the community and an agent of change" (Better Together article, p.35).
I chose the above passage as my MIS because it illustrated the dynamic nature of the public library and how it actively interacts with the community. By understanding the dynamity of libraries, it is possible to understand how libraries can reflect the community, either by reinforcing socioeconomic differences, or in bridging the community together by offering serivces that appeal to all people in the community and reflecting the needs and culture of the particular area. Libraries can be powerful agents of change in the community when they encourage social capital by bringing people of different ethnic groups or classes together and welcoming diversity. Types and amounts of information and their availability all affect the success of the library in bridging the community. Seeing the public library as a dynamic influence in neighborhoods creates a need to understand how libraries can best reflect their communities, and how access to the information libraries provide affects the members of the community.
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I just can't grasp the notion of the library as an agent of change, perhaps it is just my perspective as an American born kid of relative priviledge but the library has played almost no role, negative or positive in my life. To say the library is a powerful force almost seems akin to saying the DMV is one, it just seems like a neutral place where one goes to handle their business, I certainly understand that it was once an important information hub and provided resources and knowledge that would be otherwise unfindable, but nowadays I just dont know how important it is.
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