Talk of the Nation on the Role of the Future Library in the Information Economy
National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation explored the modern public library and its role in the information economy Monday. Guests included Tom Frey, executive director of the futurist think tank The DaVinci Institute, Jo Haight-Sarling, director of access and technology services at the Denver Public Library System, and Charles Brown, director of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Callers expressed concerns over Internet access, getting non-commercial information from library resources, the importance of libraries as community centers, and accessing digitized images.
A respondent on the solo librarians list shared a Minneapolis StarTribune discussion between Frey and Minneapolis Public Libraries director Kit Hadley.
One value of the library brought out in these pieces is the physical space, especially as a place where people can gather together. In the article, Frey says:
"Yet libraries are a place, and that is an important resource. With a growing number of business executives working from a home office, they are looking for ‘another place’ to stimulate their thinking, alter patterns, meet people, and congregate. While libraries can build electronic tentacles into our homes, there is great value in being a ‘place’ — a place to go, different spaces for different moods, points to ponder, human sounding boards, room for introspection as well as extrospection."
In an age where many branch libraries are being shut down or having hours reduced because of budget cuts, it’s nice to learn that some people still find the space to be important. While many people believe virtual libraries might be all we need, it seems that other people recognize the institutions as more than just a storage place for information waiting to be digitized.
