The Future of Libraries and Librarians

During my two and a half years of working towards my Master's degree in library science, I can't count the number of times I've been asked why the heck I want to become a librarian. These same people say that no one reads anymore; everyone finds all their information on the internet. Now while I find this to be a grossly inaccurate statement (based on the number of books that pass from my hands to yours on a daily basis), the idea of the future of libraries intrigues me. Some view libraries as a dying and soon-to-be irrelevant organization. But maybe its just libraries as we know them that are ending; instead of dying, however, they are evolving and adapting to meet the needs of our technology-minded culture.

Don't think libraries are forward-thinking places? Visit the Seattle Public Library (above) or check out this design I found for the Czech National Library in Prague (left).


Check out this article to see what some up-and-coming librarians have to say about the future of libraries. They describe how librarians are changing, too. "The Hipster Librarians" are a new group of young, vibrant librarians who are excited about the marriage between books and technology that is librarianship. They don't think libraries are going anywhere anytime soon.

But this is an ongoing debate in the library world. How much longer will libraries be relevant? What do you think? Are we a dying breed, or are we hear to stay?

The Future of The Web/Libraries?

Check out this video on a possible future of the web.



Where would a public library fit into this world? I think the predictions are pretty reasonable, given current trends. I use bloglines to get 99% of my news these days, even though I have cable and access to 20 some newspapers here at work. We, as librarians, are used to making print resources available to our patrons, and now making access to the internet readily available. We make electronic databases available and libraries are starting to allow patrons to download books, songs, movies, etc. for their own portable players. We belong to social networks to get our brand out there, and advertise. We have blogs, and send RSS feeds of new materials arriving at the library. The trick is to stay ahead of the curve. Where do we go from here?

It feels like libraries, for the most part, are simply playing catch up with advancing technology, waiting to see if things like myspace are "safe" enough for the library world. Waiting to see if Wikipedia is authoritative enough. But if libraries are to play the part of an intellectual marketplace of ideas, which is what they should be, we should be willing to try things out before we know they are safe or reliable. We should be willing to allow our patrons to tag our materials themselves(some libraries already are). We should arrange our materials in a easier to understand way, like they've done at the Maricopa County Library. We should be willing to shoulder the load of getting information out to the public in new ways and be able to dynamically deliver information to patrons based on what they are interested in. I think that is the point of a public library.