Creating a Future for Public Libraries: Diverse Strategies for a Diverse Nation

THEBENTONFOUNDATION REPORT, Buildings, Books, and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in the Diptal Age, bases its conclusions on three separate data collections: a gathering of insights from Kellogg Foundation grantees, a telephone survey, and a focus group interview. In order to judge the weight that can be placed on the report, the quality of the information obtained through these investigations is assessed in terms of the methods used. A concluding discussion raises ignored issues in the determination of the role of the public library.