1OK, Stewart. We need to start planning our paper on public libraries.
2Have you thought of an angle yet?
3Well, there's so much we could look into.
4How libraries have changed over the centuries, for instance, or...
5how different countries organise them.
6What do you think, Trudie?
7Maybe we should concentrate on this country, and try and relate the changes in libraries to external developments,
8like the fact that far more people can read than a century ago,
9and that the local population may speak lots of different languages.
10We could include something about changes in the source of funding, too.
11Yes, but remember we're only supposed to write a short paper,
12so it's probably best if we don't go into funding in any detail.
13Right.
14Well, shall we just brainstorm a few ideas, to get started?
15OK.
16We obviously need to look at the impact of new technology, particularly the internet.
17Now that lots of books have been digitalised, people can access them from their own computers at home.
18And if everyone did that, libraries would be obsolete.
19Yes.
20But the digitalised books that are available online for free are mostly out of copyright, aren't they?
21And copyright in this country lasts for 70 years after the author dies.
22So you won't find the latest best-seller or up-to-date information.
23That's an important point.
24Anyway, I find it hard to concentrate when I'm reading a long text on a screen.
25I'd much rather read a physical book.
26And it takes longer to read on a screen.
27Oh, I prefer it.
28I suppose it's just a personal preference.
29I expect that libraries will go on evolving in the next few years.
30Some have already become centres where community activities take place,
31like local clubs meeting there.
32I think that'll become even more common.
33I'd like to think so,
34and that they'll still be serving their traditional function, but I'm not so sure.
35There are financial implications, after all.
36What I'm afraid will happen is that books and magazines will all disappear, and there'll just be rows and rows of computers.
37They won't look anything like the libraries we're used to.
38Well, we'll see.
39I've just had an idea.
40Why don't we make an in-depth study of our local public library as background to our paper?
41Yes, that'd be interesting, and raise all sorts of issues.
42Let's make a list of possible things we could ask about,
43then work out some sort of structure.
44For instance, um, we could interview some of the staff,
45and find out whether the library has its own budget, or if that's controlled by the local council.
46And what their policies are.
47I know they don't allow food,
48but I'd love to find out what types of noise they ban -
49there always seems to be a lot of talking, but never music.
50I don't know if that's a policy or it just happens.
51Ah, I've often wondered.
52Then there are things like how the library is affected by employment laws.
53I suppose there are rules about working hours, facilities for staff, and so on.
54Right.
55Then there are other issues relating to the design of the building and how customers use it.
56Like what measures does the library take to ensure their safety?
57They'd need floor coverings that aren't slippery, and emergency exits, for instance.
58Oh, and another thing -
59there's the question of the kind of insurance the library needs to have, in case anyone gets injured.
60Yes, that's something else to find out.
61You know something I've often wondered?
62What's that?
63Well, you know they've got an archive of local newspapers going back years?
64Well, next to it they've got the diary of a well-known politician from the late 19th century.
65I wonder why it's there.
66Do you know what his connection was with this area?
67No idea.
68Let's add it to our list of things to find out.
69Oh, I've just thought -
70you know people might ask in the library about local organisations, like sports clubs?
71Well, I wonder if they keep a database, or whether they just look online.
72Right.
73I quite fancy finding out what the differences are between a library that's open to the public
74and one that's part of a museum, for example -
75they must be very different.
76Then something else I'd like to know is...