{"id":1312,"date":"2010-02-23T00:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T00:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1312"},"modified":"2010-02-23T00:28:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T00:28:00","slug":"freelancers-move-to-the-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1312","title":{"rendered":"Freelancers, Move to the Library!"},"content":{"rendered":"

An op-ed piece in Sunday’s Denver Post <\/i>made an interesting suggestion. People who work\u2014or want to look like they are working\u2014in coffee shops ought to move to their public libraries instead.<\/a><\/p>\n

Then coffee shops could go back to being coffee shops\u2014places of intellectual ferment and conversation, instead of solo customers taking up a booth or table while they stare into their screens.<\/p>\n

And libraries would have a new clientele of media-savvy communicators to lobby for them.<\/p>\n

Cafes have always served as venues for contemplation and composition, though historically conversation has shared an equally prominent place at the table. But with the increasing availability of cheap and free wireless access in cafes, and the recession-laden economy rendering private work spaces less affordable, the cafe has become an obvious alternative for virtual workers. The phenomenon’s effect on cafe owners has been well-documented. There is a delicate balance between filling seats, particularly during daytime hours, and the cafe’s need to turn a profit through a steady turnover of customers.<\/p>\n

The ubiquitousness of technology has had consequences far beyond the complex relationship between cafe owners and their customers in-residence. It has perceptibly drained cafes of a more traditional social atmosphere for engaged, dynamic and discursive exchanges. Stephen Miller, author of Conversation: A History of a Declining Art<\/i><\/a>\"\", has documented the fall and labeled those de rigeur accoutrements of modern living \u2014 the cellphone and the iPod \u2014 as “conversation avoidance mechanisms” or worse, “a distraction that undermines conversation.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A few years ago, my university library installed a coffee bar and wireless Internet\u2014the latter part of a campus-wide project. It was like civilization!<\/p>\n

Now the building is gutted for remodeling, but I expect to see the coffee bar back.<\/p>\n

Some public libraries have added coffee bars. More of them should.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An op-ed piece in Sunday’s Denver Post made an interesting suggestion. People who work\u2014or want to look like they are working\u2014in coffee shops ought to move to their public libraries instead. Then coffee shops could go back to being coffee shops\u2014places of intellectual ferment and conversation, instead of solo customers taking up a booth or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-1312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-la","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1138,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1138","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":0},"title":"View from a Parallel Universe","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"M. and I are on the road, looking for books, brew pubs, and botanicals, so blogging will be sporadic for a few days. So far we have covered two out of three.This interior view is not a brew pub, however, but one of our favorite coffee shops.","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13889,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13889","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":1},"title":"A Waking Dream: The New Age Salvation Army","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This is what a background in religious studies plus sleep-deprivation will do to you. On Friday I was in Manitou Springs, the old spa town on the west side of Colorado Springs, where I spent most of my twenties and had various formative experiences, such as meeting my wife, forming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bellringer-not.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7257,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7257","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":2},"title":"A Wicca Center in Thailand","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a long tradition of metaphysical bookstores and occult-supply shops serving as the public face of Pagan groups. \"Owner Wine Kongsorn said he opened the caf\u00e9 in a bid to unite the community of Wiccans in Bangkok.\" And exactly how is \"Wiccan\" defined in Bangkok? The source is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Thailand\"","block_context":{"text":"Thailand","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=thailand"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/06\/02\/01\/293E4BE300000578-3105486-Ace_and_Cups_is_the_world_s_premiere_witchcraft_cafe_offering_oc-m-1_1433204398307.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1078,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1078","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":3},"title":"Trapped in Chicago Bookstore","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Hotel room view, across Grant Park towards the Field Museum, Aquarium, etc.When I booked this hotel, across the street from the Chicago Hilton Hotel, the AAR's main annual meeting venue, I had no idea that it was only a block from one of Chicago's Powell's bookstores. M. and I are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"books\"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=chascli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0802776760","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":838,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=838","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":4},"title":"I could not write books without them.","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The interlibrary loan librarians.Even more heartening is [the] observation that interlibrary lending is \"the only professional service I can think of in which the provider pays the cost.\" The faith our libraries show in the ability of that service to somehow, someday, contribute to a greater good is remarkable, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"writing\"","block_context":{"text":"writing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=writing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3525,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3525","url_meta":{"origin":1312,"position":5},"title":"Mojo & Materiality: Lucky Mojo Curio Co.","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When the AAR met in Montreal in 2009, we not only had our first session on idolatry\/materiality from a Pagan perspective, but also the Magical Mercantile Tour of Pagan and occult-related shops and meeting places. This year's tour revisited the concept under a slightly different name, a tribute to our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/DeskSetMojo-279x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}