When we asked the library staff members in our online panel for their thoughts on these services and programs, many said that their library had either already implemented or should definitely implement many of them in the future. The programs that were most popular with these librarians were: having separate locations for different activities, offering free early literacy programs, coordinating with local schools, and having comfortable spaces for reading, working, or relaxing at the library. Many also said that they were eager to offer a broader selection of e-books for check-out.
Recent reports by Pew Internet have examined some of the issues involved in e-book adoption at libraries, and have found that most Americans (57%) are unaware if their library lends out e-books or not; among recent library users, 5% borrow e-books.3In the past year, the percentage of Americans who read e-books increased from 16% of all those ages 16 and older to 23% as of November 2012. Among these e-book borrowers, the most common complaints as of December 2011 are a lack of titles (56% of e-book borrowers say they have encountered this) and long waiting lists (52%).4This idea was significantly more popular with adults ages 18-64 compared with those 65 and older, and those with at least some college experience are generally more likely to express strong support for this idea than those who had not attended college.
36 Unexpected Photos That People Found On Their Phones Which They Definitely Did Not Take
In addition to asking people for their preferences on some new library services, we also asked respondents whether they would themselves use a variety of possible new activities and features at libraries. Our list was weighted towards services that are rooted in technology and allow more tech-related interactions with libraries and at them.
Americans who do not already own devices such as tablets, smartphones, or desktop or laptop computers are significantly more likely than those who do own these devices to express an interest in these types of classes. About half (53%) of people who do not own tablets say they would be likely to take classes on how to use handheld reading devices, as did 54% of non-smartphone owners and 57% of those who do not own a desktop or laptop computer.
Teens and adults have a variety of ways to make available or limit access to their personal information online. Within Facebook, the dominant social network among American youth, they can choose which people to friend and when to unfriend. They can choose to use default privacy settings or finely tune the privacy controls to limit who can see certain parts of their profile as well as restrict who can view individual posts. Retroactively, they can change the settings for content they have posted in the past or delete material from their timeline altogether. Among teen Facebook users, most restrict access to their profile in some way, but few place further limits on who can see the material they post. Twitter, by contrast, is a much more public platform for teens.
While the prior question asks about a hypothetical expense, the survey results indicate that a number of people struggle to pay their actual bills. Even without an unexpected expense, 17 percent of adults expected to forgo payment on some of their bills in the month of the survey. Most frequently, this involves not paying, or making a partial payment on, a credit card bill (table 10). Four in 10 of those who are not able to pay all their bills (7 percent of all adults) say that their rent, mortgage, or utility bills will be left at least partially unpaid.
Another 12 percent of adults would be unable to pay their current month's bills if they also had an unexpected $400 expense that they had to pay. Altogether, 3 in 10 adults are either unable to pay their bills or are one modest financial setback away from hardship, slightly less than in 2017 (33 percent).
Some financial challenges require more preparation and advanced planning than a relatively small, unexpected expense would. One common measure of financial preparation is whether people have savings sufficient to cover three months of expenses if they lost their job. Half of people have set aside dedicated emergency savings or "rainy day" funds. As was the case with smaller financial disruptions, some would deal with a larger shock by borrowing or selling assets; one-fifth say that they could cover three months of expenses in this way. In total, 7 in 10 adults could tap savings, would need to borrow or sell assets if faced with a financial setback of this magnitude.
Seventy-four delegates were appointed to the convention, of which 55 actually attended sessions. Rhode Island was the only state that refused to send delegates. Dominated by men wedded to paper currency, low taxes, and popular government, Rhode Island's leaders refused to participate in what they saw as a conspiracy to overthrow the established government. Other Americans also had their suspicions. Patrick Henry, of the flowing red Glasgow cloak and the magnetic oratory, refused to attend, declaring he "smelt a rat." He suspected, correctly, that Madison had in mind the creation of a powerful central government and the subversion of the authority of the state legislatures. Henry along with many other political leaders, believed that the state governments offered the chief protection for personal liberties. He was determined not to lend a hand to any proceeding that seemed to pose a threat to that protection.
For 3 days the convention debated Paterson's plan, finally voting for rejection. With the defeat of the New Jersey resolutions, the convention was moving toward creation of a new government, much to the dismay of many small-state delegates. The nationalists, led by Madison, appeared to have the proceedings in their grip. In addition, they were able to persuade the members that any new constitution should be ratified through conventions of the people and not by the Congress and the state legislatures- -another tactical coup. Madison and his allies believed that the constitution they had in mind would likely be scuttled in the legislatures, where many state political leaders stood to lose power. The nationalists wanted to bring the issue before "the people," where ratification was more likely.
On June 18 Alexander Hamilton presented his own ideal plan of government. Erudite and polished, the speech, nevertheless, failed to win a following. It went too far. Calling the British government "the best in the world," Hamilton proposed a model strikingly similar an executive to serve during good behavior or life with veto power over all laws; a senate with members serving during good behavior; the legislature to have power to pass "all laws whatsoever." Hamilton later wrote to Washington that the people were now willing to accept "something not very remote from that which they have lately quitted." What the people had "lately quitted," of course, was monarchy. Some members of the convention fully expected the country to turn in this direction. Hugh Williamson of North Carolina, a wealthy physician, declared that it was "pretty certain . . . that we should at some time or other have a king." Newspaper accounts appeared in the summer of 1787 alleging that a plot was under way to invite the second son of George III, Frederick, Duke of York, the secular bishop of Osnaburgh in Prussia, to become "king of the United States."
Against this kind of Federalist leadership and determination, the opposition in most states was disorganized and generally inert. The leading spokesmen were largely state-centered men with regional and local interests and loyalties. Madison wrote of the Massachusetts anti-Federalists, "There was not a single character capable of uniting their wills or directing their measures. . . . They had no plan whatever." The anti-Federalists attacked wildly on several fronts: the lack of a bill of rights, discrimination against southern states in navigation legislation, direct taxation, the loss of state sovereignty. Many charged that the Constitution represented the work of aristocratic politicians bent on protecting their own class interests. At the Massachusetts convention one delegate declared, "These lawyers, and men of learning and moneyed men, that . . . make us poor illiterate people swallow down the pill . . . they will swallow up all us little folks like the great Leviathan; yes, just as the whale swallowed up Jonah!" Some newspaper articles, presumably written by anti-Federalists, resorted to fanciful predictions of the horrors that might emerge under the new Constitution pagans and deists could control the government; the use of Inquisition-like torture could be instituted as punishment for federal crimes; even the pope could be elected president.
One anti-Federalist argument gave opponents some genuine difficulty--the claim that the territory of the 13 states was too extensive for a representative government. In a republic embracing a large area, anti-Federalists argued, government would be impersonal, unrepresentative, dominated by men of wealth, and oppressive of the poor and working classes. Had not the illustrious Montesquieu himself ridiculed the notion that an extensive territory composed of varying climates and people, could be a single republican state? James Madison, always ready with the Federalist volley, turned the argument completely around and insisted that the vastness of the country would itself be a strong argument in favor of a republic. Claiming that a large republic would counterbalance various political interest groups vying for power, Madison wrote, "The smaller the society the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interests composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interests, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party and the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression." Extend the size of the republic, Madison argued, and the country would be less vulnerable to separate factions within it. 2ff7e9595c
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