阅读理解 The pound new Library of Birmingham(LoB)will be the most visible sign of the way the city is accepting the digitalization(数字化)of everyday life． Set to open in 2013, the ￡188 m LoB is already beginning to take shape next to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, with which it will share some equipment． As digital media(媒介)is important to its idea, 49the project is already providing chances for some of the many small new local companies working at new technologies． Brian Gambles, the LoB project director, says 51．a it is about giving people the right tools for learning：“The aim is to mix the physical with the digital．51．b Providing 24-hour services which can be used through many different ways．It is important to enable us to reach more people, more effectively．” The digital library will, he says, be as important as the physical one, allowing the distant use of the services, making sure that it is never closed to the public． Even before the LoB is complete, the public has been able to go online to visit the Virtual(虚拟的)LoB, designed by Baden, the Birmingham virtual worlds specialists．50Not only have the public been able to learn about LoB, but the virtual one has also enabled those working on the LoN to understand the building and how it will work before ot even opens． Two other small Birmingham-based digital companies are working on the LoB projects．Substrat, a digital design company, is developing what it calls an “enlarged reality” project．It is about the use of an exciting smart phone, an important part of LoB the which is the early stages of development．And The People’s Archive is an online library of figures of the city being built content company in Cahoots, 51．d in which users will be encouraged to add to and comment on the material． Gambles says：“Technology will enable us to make the library’s and services open to citizens as sever before．” | 
