ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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> I think it was, that museums should be
> free to the  
> public.

Well, at one time most museums were free to the
public. Some still are (particularly small ones which
could not support themselves via admissions, anyway). 

Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium, which opened
in 1939, allowed free admission to their exhibit
galleries for the first year, while there was a small
admission charge for the planetarium show. The primary
reason they started charging admission to the exhibit
galleries the second year was to stop the homeless
from spending the whole day in the building--which, of
course, was heated in the Winter and was the first
publicly-owned building in the City of Pittsburgh (and
possibly the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) to be
constructed with air-conditioning (absolutely
necessary since none of the public areas had windows
when originally built) for the Summer months. The
homeless problem is one which continues to plague
public libraries to this day.

> How have libraries managed to do that and
> still thrive?

Regrettably, not all have.

Andrew Carnegie was probably the primary reason that
public libraties have the tradition of having no
admission charge. Andrew Carnegie did not trust
politicians. He was afraid that if a town got into a
"budget crunch" (i.e. they were not willing to raise
taxes). the town might start charging admission to the
public library.

So, in all of the early public libraries that Andrew
Carnegie built, the exterior of the library had to
include the words "Free Library" or "Free to the
People." He insisted that these words be, quite
literally, "engraved in stone," so no town could start
charging admission to a public library he funded!

Unfortunately, Andrew Carnegie's distrust of
politicians was well-founded. In some cases, since
charging admission to a public library was out of the
question, these politicians had no problem allowing
the library to close, rather than raise taxes.

In the last half of the 1990s, I served on the Board
of Trustees of one of the poorest Carnegie Libraries,
the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in
Andrew Carnegie's namesake town: Carnegie,
Pennsylvania. Since the town was named after him, this
one of the few libraries in which he did not require a
municipal subsidy.

He did provide an endowment, but by the 1980s that
endowment was almost totally depleted, due to
inflation and the fact that the Borough of Carnegie
had not provided more than a token subsidy to the
library over the years. Consequently, the library
almost closed twice during my five-year tenure on the
Board of Trustees; we had to really work hard to keep
the library doors open,.

Today, the library does receive a moderate subsidy
from the Borough of Carnegie, and it is in better (if
not great) financial condition. But, it was a fight to
get the Borough to recognize the importance of
providing even a moderate subsidy to the library.

gaw

--- Eric Siegel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 06:05:16 -0500 
From: "Eric Siegel" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Podcasts--libraries 
To: [log in to unmask]

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of
> Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums
> and related institutions.
>
*****************************************************************************
> 
> Podcasts are intrinsically non-social receptive
> media, meant  
> for....ipods, think earbuds.  There is nothing to
> prevent a museum  
> from doing podcasts of current science, which might
> be useful for  
> some and would forward the mission of the science
> center, but it will  
> not be used on the exhibition floor or at the
> museum.   That said, I  
> think we should accommodate all the ways in which
> people learn,  
> including reading, listening, and watching. Not
> everything we do has  
> to be interactive and inquiry based.  I am kind of
> fascinated by how  
> popular and important libraries are in America, they
> are seen as a  
> (maybe *the only* ) critical part of the free choice
> learning   
> infrastructure of the US.  I have been thinking what
> and how we can  
> learn from them?  Elaine Gurian made the point in a
> recent article in  
> Museum News, I think it was, that museums should be
> free to the  
> public.  How have libraries managed to do that and
> still thrive?
> 
> I have found a charming podcast about a
> "cityslicker's" climb to base  
> camp three on everest www.everestpodcast.com
> 
> Eric Siegel
> Executive VP
>     Programs and Planning
> NY Hall of Science
> 47-01 111th Street
> Queens, NY 11368
> [log in to unmask]
> 718 699 0005 x 317
> www.nyscience.org
> 
> 
> On Mar 22, 2006, at 11:43 PM, Sue Ann Heatherly
> wrote:
> 
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of
> Science-Technology  
> > Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science
> museums and related  
> > institutions.
> >
>
**********************************************************************
> 
> > *******
> >
> > But I think the question was how do we incorporate
> an essentially  
> > lecture
> > oriented, but hip medium into science center
> world.  which is a great
> > question, but nothing is hitting me... how do we
> make pod casts
> > interactive?  folks certainly don't need us to
> access these, unless we
> > weave them into a greater experience.
> >
> > Sue Ann
> > NRAO-Green Bank
> >
> >
> >> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of
> Science-Technology  
> >> Centers
> >> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science
> museums and related
> >> institutions.
> >>
>
*********************************************************************
> 
> >> ********
> >>
> >> Martin: They may be great for teacher
> professional development. We  
> >> are
> >> contemplating pod casts for that purpose. What do
> you think? Peter
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Peter B. Dow
> >> First Hand Learning, Inc.
> >> 2495 Main Street
> >> Buffalo, NY 14214
> >> (716) 831-9160
> >> www.firsthandlearning.org
> >> [log in to unmask]

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
NEWS - Astronomy, Space, Science:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.planetarium.cc > 
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: 
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: 
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > 
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.incline.cc >

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