So a lot of people have been talking about the demise of libraries. Are libraries worth tax dollars, are libraries going to still exist in 15 years? (And if not, why am I going to library school...)
I dislike these questions. Its not that I don't think this is important for people to discuss, I just think it has been done to death. The end of libraries was predicted...when? Twenty years ago? How did that work out? E-books were supposed to be the next big thing, the Internet was going to take over the library (anyone read Feed by M.T. Anderson?)...
I feel that the more librarians dwell on this the more time we waste where we could be getting things done. If we start getting panicky over losing patrons and losing tax dollars, it will happen. Because we are NOT spending that time worrying about acquiring new patrons, planning new programs, creating incentives to get children, teens, and adults into the library. Librarians need to be proactive. Get your library a blog, figure out RSS feeds and "chat reference." Make yourself useful dammit.
Alright, I'm done ranting. Really, what I'm promoting is positive thinking and forward acting. Lets suck it up librarians and show Google what service is.
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1 comment:
Well said! I could not agree more. I think the demise of libraries was predicted around the time of the Library at Alexandria! We're still around, just need to be constantly evolving.
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