Librarian v. Google

Whenever I need a pick-me-up after a hard-knock kind of day at work, I read this:

“Librarians are there:
To help, aid, assist. To teach, collate, enthuse. To catalogue, index, arrange, organise. To find, discover, promote, display. To interest, intrigue, amuse and amaze. To instill wonder. To help children, adults, old people, the underprivileged, the rich, the poor, those with voices and those without. To protect resources, to archive them, to store them, to save them for the future. To provide differing viewpoints, to engender thought, conversation, research, fun. To provide the best answer possible, to match the answer to the enquirer, to provide just enough information without overwhelming the user, but enough to always help. To better a local community, a company, a school, a college, an organisation, a country, the world.

Google is there:
To make money.”
- Phil Bradley

I love Google. No, I adore Google. Gmail, Drive, Reader, Calendar, Blogger (obviously) - if Google makes it, I probably use it. I use Google at work to find answers on the quick or to get started on research.

But there is no replacement for your friendly, local librarian. (At least, I hope your local librarian is friendly.) If it has been a long time since you have visited your local library, stop by sometime. Browse the books, check out a DVD, attend a program. I promise you, there is something for everyone at your public library.