Listened to the CBC Radio podcast "Q with Jian Ghomeshi:  Is this the end of libraries as we know them?"  The New York Public Library proposed a 300 million dollar renovation project to move into storage around 2 million items of reference materials to make room for more public/social spaces.  The debate discussed the traditional library and its relevance in the digital world if they don't adapt to becoming more of a community gathering space.  Some of the pros and cons discussed by the panel were: unless libraries maintain their traditional values (their assets) they become irrelevant as the information can be found at any internet cafe like Starbucks.  On the other hand, in Toronto the introduction of more social spaces within the library resulted in 30% increase in usage.  Another point argued was that this change is necessary to justify their public and private funding.