We're Losing The Dinosaurs. Do We Care?

On a Sunday television program recently, we were told we're losing our newspapers. This is the end of the newspaper business. Everything is going online and people don't have to pay a dime.
The Internet has it all - the ads, the news, the comics, etc. They say the Internet papers have more readers, the online newspaper looks prettier, and is faster in delivering the news.
It's all on the Internet. Anyone with a laptop can sit in the park on a beautiful day and come up with an online newspaper. There's no paper involved, no presses, no overhead.
One newspaper editor on the television program said newspapers are like a lamprey beating off another predator.
Another editor thinks the papers can adapt. After all, they are the originators of investigative reporting. And he thinks people will eventually have to pay to read an article online.
As for the reporters, they know that text, music, and videos are changing every minute. Reporters not only have to write now, but blog, use a video camera, text message...they have to do it all or their job is lost to someone who can and will.
It's generational. People under 50 don't know what a newspaper is like, was like, and they don't care...so said the television program.
But the dinosaurs do!
They are those people who don't have a laptop or desktop, a blackberry or blueberry, IPod or IPhone. And don't want one! They love the newspapers. They love to hold it in their hands and get that printer's ink all over their fingers. It gives them time to sit down with a cup of coffee or iced tea or whatever, kick off their shoes and prop up their feet, and relax while mulling over all the things the newspaper holds...want-ads and all.
Some people don't think we've figured out yet a new menu to distribute the news. I'd like to say for us here at the library: "That's great!" We still have newspapers here. They're on the tall racks in the reading area.
So, until then, when the world figures out that "new menu," come on in to your library and enjoy the newspaper. You don't even have to pay a dime (or dollar) or show your library card.

But I Like To READ!!!

"Hold on!" someone said to me yesterday. "I saw on your library blog the other day about The Atlanta Journal-Constitution being online, but I like to come into the library and HOLD a piece of paper in my hand and READ! Don't you still have those old-fashioned newspapers?" Well, I'm here to tell you that if you still like to come to the library, pick up a real-live newspaper, and sit on the couch and read, we've got newspapers for you. A quick tour of our reading area shows that we have the following papers: Albany Herald (daily and Sunday), Georgia Times Union (daily and Sunday), Moultrie Observer (daily and Sunday), USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. But don't stop there! We have magazines also; ones like Atlantic Monthly, Beckett Baseball, Better Homes and Gardens, Consumer Reports, Crafts 'n Things, Ebony, Family Handyman, Glamour, National Geographic, Newsweek and a host of others. So you can come in and sit at a table or on a comfy couch and read till your heart's content. Consider it a bonus for having a library in your town!

We DO Have The Atlanta Journal-Constitution!

The other night at our book club meeting we were talking about the newspapers at the library. Someone mentioned that we no longer have The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the public to read. So, when I went to work the next day, I checked into it. I found out we don't have a paper copy of the newspaper. However, we DO have it online! It is available to all patrons using a computer inside the library. And not only can they read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but they have the opportunity to read online many of America's great news magazines, such as Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, Life, Parenting, Real Simple, Newsweek, Time, Popular Science, and Sports Illustrated, just to mention a few. If you've missed The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, you don't have to miss it any longer. Just stop by the library and ask any staff member about the newspaper. They'll be glad to help you.