Throughout much of the last half of the twentieth century and through the present, library construction has failed to keep pace with the publication of new books and periodicals.  The consequence of this shortfall has been the permanent loss of millions of older books and periodicals culled from shelves to make room for the new.

What construction did occur was largely for satellite branches in new suburban communities and new educational facilities rather than additions to existing space to accommodate new books.  These new facilities largely served to store smaller, replicate collections of those held in a distant central library facility.

For other libraries, particularly the big city libraries holding extensive collections of older books, the situation is even worse as budgetary problems have forced severe service cutbacks at urban public libraries.  The Baltimore Sun has recently reported that financial difficulties have forced Baltimore, Maryland, to close seven of its branch libraries– equal to twenty-five percent of its system -- over the past few years, while in Washington DC, The Washington Times reports that the book budget for its libraries has been frozen for a decade, staff has been reduced by a third, and several buildings, and whole sections of the central library, have been closed until funds are available for repair.  Already closed on Sundays, the libraries in the District’s system will now be closed on Saturdays as well.  The same article describes the library as having “a good selection of older classics and scholarly books.”

Please review our sample site on Benjamin Franklin, as an example of what the typical site on the virtual library will look like