Libraries, Community, and Technology

Book excerpt: A number of people, including politicians, techies, and even librarians themselves, are convinced that if libraries are not obsolete now, it is only a matter of time until they are, thanks to the Internet. Many, though, are optimistic about the future of libraries and their continuing role in shaping a community’s cultural life. Libraries have changed, but the important things about them have not. This book is a collection of 15 essays written by the author. All of the essays consider the relationships between libraries, the communities they serve, and the technology that has become such a significant part of them. Among the topics explored are the public library and its social mission, librarians and their core values, the concept of the killer application as it pertains to librarianship, balancing competing claims on resources, why the author became a librarian, why libraries should not be re-engineered, re-imagined or otherwise changed, how technology is being used to help libraries stay local, digitizing on a budget for public libraries, why the Internet will not replace public libraries, e-books, the end of cataloging, how library technology strikes back, new competencies for library trustees, and how librarians weed books, deciding which ones should be kept and which are just taking up space.