e-mail in libraries

[Charles Bearden]

With respect to offering or permitting email, libraries ought to feel 
free to implement or not implement these services based on their 
mission, their perception of the needs of their communities, and their 
estimation of the resources available to administer or simply convey the 
traffic.  

Neither blanket pro-email or con-email positions make any sense to me, at
least not with respect to public libraries.  The question of whether email
is a valid use of library resources seems to me a question for the
community and its library to decide.  As for "mission creep", should 
library missions be in lock-step to the degree that this concept makes 
sense?  

Chuck
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Chuck Bearden			email: cbearden at hpl.lib.tx.us
Network Services Librarian
Automation Department		voice: 713/247-2264
Houston Public Library		fax:   713/247-1182
500 McKinney Ave.
Houston, TX  77002		-=> NOT SPEAKING FOR HPL <=- 
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      -=>HPL's Homepage: http://sparc.hpl.lib.tx.us<=-