"This is one of the ironies of investing in social capital that we will see in some other stories, too: improvements that help bring members of a community together sometimes also disrupt or sever old ties" (pg. 5).
This sentence especially attracted my attention because it not only applies to libraries but to other places in the community, as well. Communities are in a constant state of growth, just as people are. When people grow and their way of life grows, things change. These elderly Chicago residents have seen a drastic change in the way of life with the introduction of technology, something many of them didn't encounter until their later years in life. Watching a place, such as their local library, transform before their eyes was probably difficult in many ways and maybe they felt that changing wasn't worth their time. But, as communities change people need to learn to adapt. Your community is exactly that; yours. As people of a community, watching your hometown change before your eyes should only serve to strengthen ties, not sever them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I agree with your statement about how important it is that people are able to grow and adapt to their changing community--including their changing libraries. However, the changing community/library needs to make sure it does not begin to focus only on its new gentrified community but to remember the needs of its original community as well.
ReplyDelete