The future of libraries...
Just as teaching styles have to change with the times in the classroom, service styles have to change with trends in the library. You can't keep doing the same thing over and over and expect good outcomes. I thought the video made words without sound very powerful. And it is so true....so many students (not just in college but even already in early elementary grades) don't see the value in their classes/education because they are bored. They already come in with higher tech skills/background and their attention is caught in different ways than we are doing. In order to serve our patrons best, we need to offer what they need. Books use to be the hot item of the library, but really it was the information or the world they took us into using the book. Now that there are so many ways to gather information or share thoughts, we need to give ways for our patrons to access and share it. I agree that we need to embrace change and focus on reaching the patrons in their world vs. expecting them to come into our worlds. We do need to continue to be welcoming and customer focused but reach them in other ways. I learned the old way - use technology to get information and move on (just like using a a textbook). But now i need to use technology to share information and have collaboration throughout the library world. I think my favorite phrase was Dr. Schultz's statement; "libraries are conversations. we are communities". That is the feeling I want to have in my library, no matter waht the trends are.
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