Will libraries become obsolete if they do not ride the latest
wave of innovation?
Yes, libraries will become obsolete if they cannot adapt to
the daily changes in our world, especially technology based changes. Libraries
need to be vibrant, innovative places or they will fade from popularity, lose
patrons and users forever until… well…. there will cease to be physical places
for old print books. We can see this with public libraries hurting due to lack
of traditional patrons and users walking in the physical doors of libraries.
You can see this on the positive end with technological innovations in public
libraries like e-books and audio book availability for download from public
library resources anywhere with wi-fi or 3G. We see this as Roxburg’s article
points out that we care more for content than format. If libraries adapt as
many have and all eventually must, find new strategies, and innovate their resources,
then there is little need the fear the total annihilation of any public
libraries. What is missing in electronic mediums for books is the human
element. All the brains, apps, e-books, e-book readers in the universe
especially at Apple and Amazon cannot replace simple face to face human
interaction. This can only be done in a safe, comfortable, physical real life space. So if public libraries are to
sustainably survive in the long run they must do two things. For one they must
continue as public spaces with events, book clubs, and camaraderie, and be the
last physical sanctuary for real full democracy and equality of resources and
treatment for all people. Accessibility is provided in a public library in ways
and with more effectiveness than could never be accomplished on the internet
alone.
Public libraries must also, of course, and just as
crucially, provide more and more online services, resources, e-books and audio
books, if they fail in the later they will lose significance in the future, if
they lose the first requirement, they aren’t really “public” libraries.
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