Mission of Public Libraries

One of my favorite blogs to read is the Annoyed Librarian. She had a great post today about Public libraries and lifelong learning. Anyone who works in a library knows that collection development is continuous struggle. You work with a finite amount of shelf space and continuously have to weed out older materials to have room for new books. The hard part is finding the balance between a "popular" collection and a more research oriented one. My library system has made more of a change towards being a "popular" collection. We are a Public Library and I do support this for the most part. The majority of our patrons want the latest bestseller whether it is fiction or non-fiction. If that is what they are asking for then as a tax payer funded organization it is our responsibility to provide those types of materials. We do order materials through ILL for more obscure titles. We also are an active participant in OhioLink which links University libraries throughout Ohio. Unlike ILL if the item is available through OhioLink our patron will get the book within a week. I think that is a fair trade off for those who want more academic type materials. We also participate in SearchOhio which links public libraries throughout Northern Ohio which is another option in addition to traditional ILL. We do cater to DIY patrons which was mentioned in the comments on the AL post. Looking for new books on computers, software, Ipods, Ebay, etc. we can provide those directly. Also topics such resumes, home repair, gardening, studying for various exams, and learning a new language are some more lifelong learning books we provide. Isn't that what a Public Library should do?