The Future of Libraries and the Libraries of the Future

The public library system in the United States is one of the greatest institutions in the history of humanity.  This public service that is established to preserve public records and information, and ensure that information is accessible to the general public has no comparison anywhere else in the world.  As society continues to develop into the information age, the services that the public library system provides will increase in importance. 

"Liquidating the library branches ..., is like selling the gold mine to buy picks and shovels"

In regards to information technology, books are becoming outmoded.  As more information is digitized and circulates more freely through our lives, using books for information storage and dissemination is becoming obsolete.  But libraries are not intended to preserve books, they are intended to preserve information. Digital information is extremely volatile and easily lost, and as our reliance upon digital information increases, our reliance upon the library system to preserve and archive this information will become more important. 

New York City is particularly well positioned to lead in the transformation of the library system to preserve and provide access to public information.  However some municipal decisions concerning the public libraries in New York City seem to be moving more toward disassembling the system, rather than ensuring that it has the support needed to continue evolving to meet the public’s future needs for information. 

With the construction of the new Roosevelt Island Tech Center, the library will become increasingly important.  Liquidating the library branches and renovating the Schwartzman Building so that it becomes more of a museum of the library sciences rather than a functioning research library, is like selling the gold mine to buy picks and shovels. 

           

Instead of liquidating historic library buildings and converting the Schwartzman building into a museum, the city should take close consideration of how the library system may evolve to better serve the population as we continue developing into the information age.

Although there are countless ways through which people interact and communicate, the literary language remains an invaluable means of exchanging information and is second in complexity and significance only to the genetic code.  The library system must continue to evolve to ensure that the integrity of literary information and communication is preserved.  From the maintenance of this integrity, we may sustain a sound basis from which we may continue to elaborate our interactions. 

In addition to living in the information age, we also live in the misinformation age.  We need an impartial social service that can allow the access of information that is not directed by forces of the economic market.  This would provide more unbiased systems to access information for cross referencing and verifying the legitimacy and accuracy of the information.  The public library system must continue to provide this service. 

With the availability of the abundant information in the library system, universities and the Roosevelt Island Tech Center can begin developing systems for restructuring and organizing the information to improve access through ingenious new means of architecture and indexing.  This would increase the public’s ability to apply information effectively to the unforeseeable developments of the future. 

"The best informed public is the most stable, productive and ingenious public."

The numerous library facilities in the city could also be used as education centers to instruct the public of the new means of accessing and applying the information we continue to amass.  The best informed public is the most stable, productive and ingenuous public.  As new techniques in information technology are developed, the public can be instructed in the use of this technology to benefit their lives and society as a whole. 

As the information we generate increases exponentially, we must rely upon the library system for the preservation and archival of this information.  Although it is easy to dismiss the electronic chatter that is incessantly buzzing through our lives, this buzzing is the development of new means of interaction within our species that we are only beginning to understand.  Never before has the entire population of humanity had instant access of communication with one another, and this means of communication is integrating our collective intelligence in ways that is unprecedented.  These developments have profound ramifications for humanity and life on Earth.  As this new evolution of our species occurs, the information of this nascence period must be preserved for study, and this information should be directly accessible to the general public. 

Also, the archives of the New York Public Library are already the most accessible of any literary archives in the world.  The new technology that is developing could make these archives even more accessible.  As these archives are recorded on digital formats, they could be made accessible to anyone in the world.  This could allow the population of the world to converge upon the New York Public Library as their resource and point of referral for information on the human species and the universe. 

Not only would this convergence allow the New York Public Library to gain and engage the attention of the  world’s population, it could establish the library system as an invaluable hub of information through which people may continue to develop their understanding of one other and us all.  Then, as we continue to develop our understanding of one another, we may decrease the number of conflicts from disagreement that occur. 

Although printed books are becoming a novelty, literary language and the information preserved and transferred through it is not.  Our library system must not be abandoned, but instead supported so that it may continue to evolve to serve our increasing need for information. 

Garrett Buhl Robinson is a poet and novelist.  He lives in Brooklyn. 

Infinite Answer

Pausing for a moment, curious,
the simple man watches
others trampling a field
playing rankling
games of elimination
then resumes his furrowing journey
turning the earth
while life rises behind him,
opening in flowers
disrobing their petals
swelling into fruit
sweetly encasing sleeping seeds
dreaming into being, while thinking:
"The answer must be everyone."

Garrett Buhl Robinson
2/20/13

A Sonnet for the Sonnet

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

A Sonnet for the Sonnet

As a sonneteer, I am enamored

by sonnets, but today to my delight

serendipity favored me to find

a university class that explored

the passionate history of the form. 

The lecture described this frame tumbling through lives,

uniting affections through centuries of time. 

There is no language that it scorns;

there is no culture it cannot adorn.

This delicate and vigorous design

turns eternal in awakening minds

and endures with the desires it records. 

I swear with my life and the lute I strum,

as long as we love sonnets will be sung. 

(1-27-2013)

Garrett Buhl Robinson

Les Ballets de Faile

This was more than a performance.  This was an extraordinary event.  Forget what you may consider to be the stiff, formalities at a Gala.  This was a first class Soiree.  Congratulations to Peter Martin and New York City Ballet for hosting a truly spectacular evening.  

Last night’s show was a feast for the senses. The art presented by Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller filled the Koch Theater with a fresh vibrancy and vitality.  Their mixed media work brought a fusion of paint, screen printing and sculpture together with allusions ranging from the classical to pop culture which certainly suggested the influence of Warhol and Litchtenstein, while still speaking with a voice of their own.  

Then, as would only be expected of the New York City Ballet, the dancing was amazing.  Peter Martin made an excellent selection of pieces that demonstrated the fact that this company has no limits.  These dancers can do anything and always in the most breathtaking ways. The performances ranged from the comic, to the sensual, to the spectacular.  

The whole evening seemed to suggest that this was not your mother’s ballet, but to me it said much more.  It demonstrated a fine art that has continued through centuries, a form of exquisite and passionate grace that has both remained true to its origins while continuing to evolve and excite new audiences in tour jetes that bound through every culture spanning the world.  For me, last night was another unique opportunity to once again fall in love with ballet.  

Than after watching the Seraphs perform on the stage, Sébastien Marcovici DJ’ed, and everyone danced.  What a night!

And if you missed the show, don’t fret.  There is another performance on May 29, but buy your tickets quick.  This event sold out fast.  

Check out the posting on the New York City Ballet page:  

www.nycballet.com/artseries/

From Pollution to Prosperity: Converting Carbon Dioxide into a Commodity

A couple of my friends generously offered their valuable time to provide some insight into some of the technical issues of this paper.  Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.  I am not certain of the energy investment required for the production of Lithium Nitrate, but I cannot imagine it exceeding that which is produced in the exothermal chemical reaction when it is combined with Carbon Dioxide.  If anything, I am hoping that this may direct some interest toward the work of Dr. Yun Hang Hu and his research team at Michigan Technological University.  These ideas offer a plausible solution to many of the issues regarding pollution, energy and the stagnant manufacturing industry.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l9wzaVhRp4gsEkAULffoaR2Zfu7Z6nSMkdgS83HXcFQ/edit

Radio Interview

Here is a link to a radio interview where I was able to discus  a few points about myself and my recent poem Martha.   I would like to express my gratitude to Susan Brender for having me on her show. She has a number of wonderfully interviews on her site. 

http://www.womensradio.com/2013/01/v-for-vitality-21/

Photo by Jerry James

I believe the problem of gun violence in the United States of America is an issue that cannot be resolved simply by gun bans.  

Still, Garrett Buhl Robinson absolutely supports:
- The ban of the sale of assault weapons.
- The ban on extended clips.
- The use of background checks for all gun purchases so that guns are not sold to convicted felons.
- Stricter laws and penalties for illegal gun possession and trafficking.
- The elimination of gun sales without background checks at gun shows.
- Engraving serial numbers on shell casings.

In my humble opinion:
Conflict arises from disagreement.
Disagreement arises from misunderstanding.
The decrease of conflict is directly proportional to the increase of understanding.
To increase understanding, we must communicate and communication requires listening, as much, if not more, than speaking.

It cannot be said that I turned a deaf ear to the truth.  - The Egyptian Book of the Dead