People still collect books as valua

People still collect books as valuable antiques or for a hobby, but you get virtually all the information you need from the view screen of your home computer system. The computer is linked to a library — not a library of books but an electronic library where information on every subject is stored in computer memory banks. Having this service at your fingertips is like having a huge brand-new encyclopedia in your homes at all times. The computer can tell you anything you want to know, and the information is always the very latest available. There need be only one central library to which computers in homes, offices, schools and colleges are connected. At the library experts are constantly busy, feeding in the very latest information as they receive it. In theory one huge electronic library could serve the whole world! (blogs.smithsonianmag.com) E-books have not spelled the demise of the local library in New York.
In fact, according to a new report from the Center for an Urban Future, 40.5 million people visited the city's public libraries, more than all of the city's professional sports teams and major cultural institutions combined. The report "Branches of Opportunity" looks at the changing role of the city's libraries in the digital age. It finds that while public libraries are serving more New Yorkers than ever, they are "undervalued by policymakers and face growing threats. "New York City's library system is a unique hybrid. Three organizations — the New York Public Library, along with the Brooklyn and Queens libraries— operate 206 local branches throughout the five boroughs.