The Wall Street Journal asks, "But, really, when was the last time you spent any time there?"

Anyone care to respond?

Boston Central Library

Photo credit:  Daniel Schwen (via Wikipedia)

Detroit Central Library

Photo credit:  Andrew Jameson (via Wikipedia)

Los Angeles Central Library

Photo credit:  Mfield (via Wikipedia)

The Library's Future is Not an Open Book.  (The Wall Street Journal, 5/13/2013_

Excerpt:   In cities across the nation, the central public library came into being when the country was young and striving to impress. Charles F. McKim's Italianate palazzo-style library opened on Boston's Copley Plaza in 1895; in 1921, Renaissance austerity suited Detroit's Main Library designed by Cass Gilbert, while architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue chose Egyptian Deco for Los Angeles's downtown Central Library of 1926. Architecturally grand, the central library was both beacon and monumental tribute to learning and civic pride; a people's palace with knowledge freely available to all.