I agree with all the posts thus far; I feel that if one travels to an urban library during the week and takes a marked observation of how many people, and what demographic groups, are using the library, more people would realize the importance of keeping these institutions open and up to date. Whenever I move to a new city, my first course of action is finding the library and getting a library card- it just makes me feel more at home!

In doing research on my precedents this week, it seems that many libraries being built today (though most of these examples are in Europe) are opting to build in such a way to allow evolution of sorts. In other words, designing open spaces or technology areas that can adapt to future inventions and uses. Considering the rapid pace at which technology changes, perhaps this is the best method? It reminds me of Cradle to Cradle (McDonough and Braungart), which urges initial designs to be flexible enough to allow different uses down the line.