The petition was withdrawn by the petitioner
City of Melbourne wants to convert level one of the City Library into meeting rooms - this January. The fiction and non-fiction book sections will make way for the redevelopment. The books may or may not find space in other libraries. The library should remain a place for reading, research, writing, thinking, studying, relaxing - for all the people from our community and country, interstate and overseas, who love to visit.
Reason
Libraries are about books, papers, magazines, computers and quiet spaces for reading, research and relaxing. Yes, we are in the digital age, but hard copy books are still enjoyed by many people. There are many vacant office buildings in the city for people who want meeting rooms. Getting rid of our reading spaces and books makes real Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451 - where all the books in the world are burned. Our library is also about the people who work here and the people who visit and enjoy everything a library has to offer. A safe, quiet place for self-education in literature, arts, languages, travel, sciences, the serious and light-hearted. We are very attached to our library staff members who are part of this community.
The only notification of this change has been online via social media, Facebook and Instagram, that many people have now stopped using, if they ever did. Also, apparently in the City of Melbourne website, but there have been no notices at all around the library. This discriminates against a majority of library users who are busy actually reading, not scrolling through the internet.
Link to the petition
Debate
No CONTRA argument yet.