bird's eye view
PTS Library: Then and Now
By: Ruthanne Vogel, PTS Librarian
Libraries certainly have changed in the last 40 years.
Computer terminals have replaced typewriters and
online databases have replaced encyclopedia sets and
journals. Books, however, have remained constant.
According to a recent Pew Foundation survey, 80% of
library users report that they went to the library in order
to check out a book. Though librarians have become
"information specialists," and certainly are in demand
for help in navigating the information explosion we find
ourselves in today, their extremely important role as
the connection link between readers and books is still
valid. In 1972, the Palmer Trinity School library was
housed in what is now the drama room in the middle
school building. The current building was constructed
in 1989 and later expanded to include the back reading
room and upstairs nonfiction area in 1990. Based on
statistics for the last 20 years, the now 20,000+ volume
book collection was probably around 1,500 to 2,000
volumes. But what books were on the shelves in 1972?
A guess can be made from the bestsellers of the day.
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