From the Stacks to the Web: The Future of Our Libraries

By Martha Hopkins

On Tuesday, November 15, WNBA members and guests gathered at the Charles Sumner School for a lively discussion on the future of libraries, with a panel of Washington, D.C.-area library leaders. WNBA member Michele (Mike) Leber moderated the discussion, in which the panelists spoke on the evolving role of librarians and libraries in the initial decade of the 21st century and beyond. Each panelist raised different issues, but a common theme ran throughout: Libraries are in a period of tremendous change because of the Internet and digitization of information.

As Nancy Gwinn, director of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, put it, "This is a period of great possibilities and opportunity, as well as challenges." She noted that libraries currently have one foot in the print world and the other foot in the electronic world. Ms. Gwinn thinks that electronic formats are better than print for some things, such as journals and anything searchable. Digital access is also a way to provide information to poor countries that lack good research libraries.

Among the challenges for libraries is the extent to which college students use the Internet, which has led some college to close their undergraduate libraries. At the same time, some students use Internet sources without determining their accuracy. Preservation and storage of both older and digital material is also an issue and raises the question of whether all research libraries need to keep the same items or whether libraries can create collaborations in which they make resources from one library available to the others.

In measuring the effectiveness of a library, Ms. Gwinn pointed out, the number of books the library held traditionally was the standard. However, electronic resources now need to be included in that measure. She noted that, while books will move from "center-stage" to storage as more information is available digitally, people still like original material. As a result, special collections are receiving more attention, and, in the future, libraries will be evaluated by the rarities they hold.

Edwin S. Clay III, director of the Fairfax County Public Library system and adjunct professor at the School of Library and Information Science at The Catholic University of America, used banking as an analogy for libraries, saying, "Banking is forever, but banks are not." He believes that libraries will always exist but in nontraditional forms as much librarian–patron contact changes from face-to-face interaction to online contact, and digital technology ensures that information is no longer confined to the printed page. Because these change are societally driven, libraries have no control over the changes.

Mr. Clay said that, given these circumstances, the future of libraries depends on librarians. They can shape the libraries of the future by knowing the nature of their customers, anticipating change, and being ready for it. The future of libraries is tied to their relevance, so librarians need to think about what they want to create and need to choose wisely.

The ways that legislation affects libraries was the theme of Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington office. She pointed out that legislation does not keep up with technology—for example, current copyright laws are preventing innovation in the digitizing of information. Another issue is the Patriot Act, which inhibits use of new technologies. For instance, libraries have the technology to keep records of patron preferences, but they do not do so because the Patriot Act’s provisions could then allow the government to gain access to private information. Libraries are also limited in the information they can have because of government fears of misuse by terrorists.

Librarians have opposed the Patriot Act, and Ms. Sheketoff called on government librarians to act as "canaries in the coal mine," watching out for encroachments on freedom of information.

All of the panelists agreed that libraries and librarians are still needed and will continue to exist, but in new forms. They also agreed that the future of libraries depends on librarians. As Edwin Clay put it, "There can be librarians without libraries but not libraries without librarians. Librarians are forever." Given that a show of hands revealed that approximately half of those at the program were librarians, it's clear that local librarians are thinking about the future of their profession.

Editor's note: This article first appeared in the Washington, D.C., Chapter's Signature newsletter. Thanks to writer Martha Hopkins, Chapter President Carla Danziger and Signature Managing Editor Carolinda Hales.