Guest Speaker: Jesse Butz
The advent of the Internet and electronic books has led many experts to sound the death knell for public libraries; but Sycamore Public Library Executive Director Jesse Butz says the opposite has occurred -- libraries are in more demand than ever.
Butz says even though there's a vast array of sources available on line, many readers still prefer good old-fashioned books; he says only 28% of readers use e-books, while 65% still prefer traditional books -- mainly because e-books are expensive, while the library still provides them for free.
Plus, a library can provide human contact and knowledge that a search engine can't; a saying in his business is that Google can find you a thousand answers, but a librarian will give you the right one.
It's the task of the library staff and Butz himself to keep up to date on the offerings they have, the options they can make available, and the needs of the building in terms of space and maintenance. The Sycamore Library is among those provided by Andrew Carnegie; but while a renovation project some years back allowed them to expand and upgrade the building, the historic portion needs maintenance and updating. Butz says he and the Library District Board constantly monitor the condition of their plant, as well as its space and equipment needs.