“but with the virtual book about to include
physical senses, the writing is already on the virtual wall.”
I wanted to begin with this quote, taken directly from the article
stated above, as I think it accurately identifies the fear that all librarians
seem to be facing at the moment. As libraries become more technology-fuelled,
it is hard for librarians to see their future in the business, with search
engines like ‘Google’ (however broad and sometimes unreliable) threatening to
replace them. Even though the purpose of a library is to preserve, organise and
make available information of all types, it seems that the public have made up
their mind that a computer or random search engine will do the same job.
I have several problems with this, as does the article I just read.
Libraries will always have a purpose as they are “a place for empowering, for creating a better society, finding spaces
for young and old, for books and digital media”, which proposes that
although computers are being used to search for answers, e-readers are
replacing books and self-serve is taking librarians away from the circulation
desk, there will always be a need to have a building dedicated to the
preservation of information, and to store the new technologies that are being
created, as well as preserving the old. Many people also seem to forget that
libraries serve many people who are financially challenged, as they are allowed
to borrow entertainment for free, especially the older population. Another part
of the article that I found interesting was this, “ The library as a place for escape from a chaotic world, eg the Slow
Movement: slow time, slow learning – slow everything – as the world quickens
and moves to hypertime and culture, libraries find niches by providing places
of quietness and calm.” Although in the article this point is raised as
being an ‘issue’, I think that it is rather the remedy to the problem of the
busy modern world which everyone who visits a library should be reminded of. More
technology means more chaos, people rushing around with their quick gadgets, getting
impatient as they become more accustomed to their result-driven ‘must have now’
world that these devices allow them. A library is a world away from all this,
which could seem too spiritual or sensitive to some, but if we have bedrooms in
houses that store the contents and history of our lives that is separate from
everybody else’s, then why not have a library which stores the content of the
world and human history?
It might seem like a grand theory, but if there were no libraries then
there would be no cultural starting point, as in most locations, the library is
the core of the community and reflects its interests, priorities and values.
The article also discusses how low funding is affecting libraries, and that
librarians may have to succumb and accept funding from a body which will seek
to change the traditional rules of that library. I didn’t find this to be a
problem, the most important thing is that the library is being funded, and
later comes the negotiation and compromise between the funders and libraries.
Overall,
I found this article to be interesting because all the issues it raises were
really the answers to their problems, and the librarians seemed to be afraid of
things that should be embraced. I think that libraries should exist, though
they should reflect the needs of the society they are in, which means holding
new technologies, different services, and ultimately new ways of storing
information.
Author: Sohail Inayatullah
Title: “Which Future for Libraries?”
URL: http://www.metafuture.org/Articles/which-future-for-libraries.htm (Date viewed:
