Reading Assignment #1

Future of Libraries Beginning the Great Transformation.


By: Thomas Frey


The DaVinci Institute



This article dictates the ten key trends that will change libraries as we know them and what has changed in the past. The list of top trends affecting libraries are communication systems, technology life spans, small storage for technology, search technology, time compression, transformation into a verbal society, demand for global information, new global systems, product based economy to experience based economy, and the transition from a center of information to a center of culture. Libraries up until this point have served as a storehouse for information, in the form of books, manuscripts, art, and generally important information. Leonardo da Vinci's own collection of works were preserved in a number of libraries and without this storehouse we call the library, many of the great works we know of today would be lost, but that is the past, the role of the library is in uncharted waters and trying to stay afloat.


The trend of libraries is changing in a number of ways. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the above trends that were mentioned but I will touch on some that I found controversial or agreeable to me.
At one point information was stored for safe keeping in a library, now however I would place that role in the hands of our many worldwide museums and more recently computers. As the article stated people who once visited a library to look for specific information now just type in whatever their looking for in Google and find numerous results. This transition is very apparent to me being a student and having used online resources more so than print books at a library. But also being a person that reads for pleasure I can confirm the articles statement that those of us who do read for pleasure will still visit our local libraries. As for the trend “Communication systems" and how they are changing how people access information I think that we have found the "ultimate form" of communication long ago and that came about with the caveman. Language is the ultimate form of communication, being able to express your needs verbally may be a basic form and one we learn as early as one year old but it still is, in my opinion the most valuable to society. Today there are many different languages but there are also many translators both human and machine. You can verbally communicate with anyone on earth essentially, with the right tools.

We all know that technology ends, changes, enhances, gets faster, smaller... it’s a never ending uphill battle to keep up with all the technology today and it is advancing all the time. Just look from the 70's until today and your mind is blown by all the amazing new technologies we have, these trends are right on target. This also leads into the role of future librarians and their importance. Having someone who is keeping up with all the new technology and can assist library patrons competently will be invaluable. I found it very interesting that the future trend will have libraries as a cultural center and less as an information center. I mean think about our school, the library is the place for information on campus; there are computers, books, librarians, magazines, videos and more. I guess the shift will be more community involvement and I think that’s a wonderful idea. Getting people into a library in general is hard; making them come back and often is really impossible. If the future libraries were on the same level as theaters, parks, and museums then I could see a bright future. This last trend leads into the recommendations for libraries to "reinvent themselves" and some of the suggestions will be essential to library growth.