If it isn't broken ...

If it isn't broken ... Barnett, Andy Libraries, community and technology. Jefferson, NC:McFarland and Company, 2002. 166p US$35.00 soft ISBN ISBNabbr.International Standard Book NumberISBNInternational Standard Book NumberISBNn abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m0786413794 THE AUTHOR, A LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIAN IN WISCONSIN WHO CALLS HIMSELFa 'neo-traditionalist', writes in a fluent, easy style aboutthe present and future of the American public library Barnett looks infifteen chapters, some quite short, at how public libraries must avoidbeing oversold OversoldIn technical analysis, it is a market in which the volume of selling that has occurred is greater than the fundamentals justify.Notes:It is the opposite of overbought. on technology and preserve the community and educationalvalues which justify their existence. He writes: 'libraries do anumber of things that are unique. Providing technology is not one ofthem.' He clearly supports the use of technology (such as librarywebsites) for library purposes and is far from an opponent oftechnology, but in his chapters 'How library technology bitesback' and 'Why the library should not be re-engineered,re-imagined or otherwise messed with', he has messages which willapply not only to public libraries. Libraries are the quintessential long-term institution Despite this, they have been willing to chase short-term goals and follow the latest business trends. We really should know better. The path to creating and maintaining a quality library is not a secret ... The path is open and wide, with plenty of room for experimentation and variation ... The radical changes in American library schools do not escape hiscriticism, and his constant concern is for the preservation of themission that is the justification of the American public library system.'... The library's mission remains instead the bedrock onwhich the rest of the institution is erected'. Perhaps none of thisis startlingly star��tle?v. star��tled, star��tling, star��tlesv.tr.1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start.2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. new, but it is restated in a fresh, vigorous manner thatcaptures attention. There is wit and commonsense com��mon��sense?adj.Having or exhibiting native good judgment: "commonsense scholarship on the foibles and oversights of a genius"Times Literary Supplement. in this book, which will be read withprofit by public librarians and others concerned with where theprofession is heading. R L Cope, Sydney