AFTER HOURS

[Janet Sue Welsch <jwelsch@TENET.EDU>]

I have been reading the discussion going on for the past several days and
decided to add my two cents worth.
        As school librarians I personally believe that we should not be
open after hours, (nights and Saturdays) for the simple fact that our
students need to learn to use the Public Libraries.  After all they will
not be with us forever.  One day in the not so distant future they will
be out on their own and if we have protected them and held their hands
during all of their research and make ourselves available to them at our
inconvenience then we have not done our jobs to prepare them for being out
in the world and on their own.
        Are we not trying to teach our students to be independent and
creative thinkers?  All of us know they will need all the information
they can obtain, LIBRARIES, the gateway to the future, is the answer.
All ways has been and will be...it is only the way we obtain the
information that changes.  From passing information by word of mouth to
the Internet Public Library, soon to come on line.