Filed under: Articles of Interest
In at the Brooklyn Public Library: rock concerts, children playing and singing, adults talking.
Out at the Brooklyn Public Library: getting shushed by librarians.
That’s because recently-appointed Brooklyn Public Library Executive Director Dionne Mack-Harvin views libraries as community centers – places where people are expected to talk to each other, not sit in silence.
Mack-Harvin is so determined to end the shushing that librarians from all 60 branches have been attending training sessions to get the word out about her approach.
“We’ve moved away from what some consider the ‘shushing library’ model of the past, from being a sterile, educational place that’s somewhat elitist,” she said, “to being a community space where everyone walking in the door can find a place for themselves.”
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i’ll be in brooklyn at the beginning of next month, and i’m most definately going to check that library out.
Comment by sarah October 8, 2007 @ 4:12 pmCheck out this article… CI in the Trib!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon_spies1210dec10,0,357582.story?page=2&coll=chi-printbusiness-hed
Comment by Zach December 12, 2007 @ 11:19 pmSorry, it had nothing to do with the BPL article– I just wanted to get it out there.
Comment by Zach December 12, 2007 @ 11:21 pm