Very interesting article about how books are the library's "brand" - and if physical books get replaced by e-books, then what's our brand?
Here's the most important part of the article: "I believe the purpose of the library transcends physical formats. In practice, in our rapidly changing world, our purpose must transcend any format that information comes in. For a moment, consider the (terrible, horrible) possibility that libraries are not able to get physical books like we have in the past, and that the majority of adult titles shift to digital. What if we still only have less than a handful of imperfect choices to lease and loan to patrons. Are we still a library? It's time to examine our missions in this new world of content. Books are our current brand, but in a world that is shifting to electronic forms, and to fulfill our public good role, our brand needs to change. I would love our brand to be "access to the resources and tools in an ever-changing world." That means access to e-everything, including the tools and training needed for content creation, and in physical spaces. Places to gather and discuss ideas. Places to learn, and places to teach." Read the whole thing at http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2012/10/if-books-are-our-brand/ - Heidi Estrin - [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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