What exactly will libraries have to “check out” in the years ahead? Plenty.
Ironically, the digital revolution has increased demand for the fundamental services that libraries provide: Helping people understand how information is organized and how to find the best sources of the information they seek, whether it’s in the library stacks or on a digital file in some remote location.
Libraries that play their cards right find themselves moving into a new golden era.
Waller McGuire, is director of the St. Louis Public Library, one of the best-supported public library systems in the nation. He presides over a collection of more than 4 million items, housed at 16 facilities throughout the city, supported by a $22 million annual budget.
[Snip]
The project [renovate the spectacular Main Library] will cost an estimated to cost $70 million, with a significant part coming from private philanthropy. It will double the available public space and dramatically revamp the digital capacity and offerings for the entire library system — reaching out not just to technical sophisticates but to the entire community.
[Our Emphasis] Therein lies a twist that every astute librarian has come to know: The pursuit of digital information is not solitary. In fact, it has a highly social element that brings people together in the real world to discuss ideas and put them into action.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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