Quality. What-matters-now-1.pdf (application/pdf Object) The Future of the Library: A Short Response « Justin The Librari. Boy, I’m glad I stayed in touch with all things library related this weekend. On Saturday 1/9/10, Seth Godin made this post about the future of libraries which then lead to a lot of really great input and discussion from other librarians (I’m thinking about Toby’s post over at The Analog Divide). I highly suggest you read all sides of the story. You’ll get a good look at the passion inside of the modern librarian. I could probably write the never ending blog post on Seth’s initial post but I’ll just focus on one thing I’ve been thinking about over the past day: “What we need to spend the money on are leaders, sherpas and teachers who will push everyone from kids to seniors to get very aggressive in finding and using information and in connecting with and leading others.”
This particular comment really struck me about my role as a librarian. It really made me realize that the approach of “provide something for them and they will come” may work for a time, but it won’t always work. Toby Greenwalt: To Know the Library Is To Love the Library -- Bu. "To know Lloyd Dobler is to love him," reads the tagline to Cameron Crowe's Say Anything. The film is considered a modern classic now, but was met with indifference (total gross: $20 million) when it first hit theaters. It wasn't until after its release on home video that it truly took off as a word-of-mouth sensation. Libraries tend to operate the same way. I've been a public librarian for about five years now, and the contrast between our users and our non-users is remarkable. One group consists of diehard fans. Another group seems to think we do nothing but read all day. All this has been reinforced in a recent blog post from marketing genius Seth Godin reflecting on the question of what libraries should do to "remain relevant in the digital age.
" This is an excellent question, and certainly terrific advice. This is not new -- at least not to us. The people who do make use of these services love them, and for this we're eternally grateful. Seth Godin and Mike Eisenberg and me on the Future of the Librar. Dot)com » Blog Archive » Seth Godin and the Future of Libraries. I like Seth Godin. His book Tribes (which I admittedly haven’t read yet) was quite the talk of SLA 2009. I also like his blog, which generally always gives me something to think about and wonder how I can apply to libraries. So when I saw that Mr. Godin – who is not a librarian – actually wrote about libraries, I was really excited to see what he had to say. Aw, crud. Aw. It’s…not good.
Okay, on to Mr. What should libraries do to become relevant in the digital age? No problem here. So, one sentence in, we’re okay! They can’t survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don’t want to own (or for reference books we can’t afford to own.) What? Mr. More librarians are telling me (unhappily) that the number one thing they deliver to their patrons is free DVD rentals. I get really nervous when we start judging the relevant “uplifting” value of resources, especially in a public library setting. Similarly, some people may have an issue with public libraries collecting DVDs.