Money-driven closing

This is concerning IDS article “Geography Library expects to close as technology advances” from Sept. 9.

Inspired by your recent article, I am writing to express my disappointment by and the lack of understanding for the decision to shut down the Geography and Map Library in the Student Building.

I also know that these feelings are shared by many people (both faculty and students) at the anthropology department, and I can only imagine that the disappointment is even greater and more strongly felt at the geography department.

It is no secret that we are living in a money-driven society, but this is also a society that is based on some values that supersede the pursuit of profit. It seems to me that the latter is forgotten by the current IU administration, who is trying to make a buck by canceling some of the most revered and student-friendly locations on campus and turning them into yet another office suite or lecture hall.

The fact that makes me personally angry is the unconvincing excuses used to justify this outrageous decision. Technological progress is not a convincing reason to shut down all the libraries, because neither are libraries only about storing and lending books nor will it be possible to digitize all the materials stored in the IU (or any other) library system for a long, long time.

Therefore, IU administration should not hide its sad and downright questionable decisions behind the technological progress.

Also, I am hoping that this irrational and to-the-fabric-of-the-campus-community detrimental decision can still be overturned.

The decision is obviously made by people who neither fully understand the nature of scientific research nor the significance of spaces such as Geomap for the campus as a whole.
 
Zarko Tankosic
Ph.D. candidate, anthropology