Kathryn,
What the library opened up for me was boundless...
Ian,
The library did open a world for me that continues to fascinate and engage me...
Kathryn,
The real value of the library, just having a place to go and connect with your community is valuable
Ian,
The library model based on the concept of acquiring a collection has come to the end of it's life. At the same time the concept of the library is a very trusted one and not to be discarded lightly.
Kathryn,
The fundamental role of the library hasn't changed, "we connect people and information... You've got to love and know about people you've got to love and know about information and the cultural history and find new and different ways to put them together".
Ian,
Traditionally the measure of success for libraries has been gate counts and often directly linked to funding. The library of the future should have different measures of success: the extent to which they can demonstrate they're preserving the memory, the way they engage with informal education and literacy and changing literacies and finally the citizenship and community aspect.(great but how can these things be measured?)
Kathryn,
The new library aims to be the community lounge room, a space where you can be yourself.
Ian,
New technologies have led to a rise in the potential of peer-to-peer learning. Librarians can't be everywhere all the time and know everything about everything (although we try - sm).
Kathryn,
We need to understand transliteracy and the new way of understanding imagined worlds that have traditionally been available only through books. For example, the world of Harry Potter can be accessed through books, gaming, movies, online, Lego and more. Reading is only one part of this information/sense-making world.
Kathryn,
We need to position ourselves as an asset to our community when it comes to ebooks and related issues like copyright, formats, what to read, etc.
IMHO to conclude I think libraries are still boundless and continue to inspire and engage us. Libraries are now vibrant social spaces that are so important to the community they support. The interview within the interview demonstrated some of the many social functions the library performs. A place to work alone while surrounded by others doing the same. A place to get away from distractions. A place to learn from others. A place for serious study. A place to have fun. Great interview!
p.s. the photo above is of a plane I jumped out of in April!
That's a nice photo - which camera did you use? I've downloaded the mp3 of the show and will have a listen myself later.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sophie, I missed this today as I was putting together and then giving a presentation. A really useful summary and I agree with your conclusion esp.: "a place to get away from distractions" (as being one of our roles).
ReplyDeleteIt's the iphone Hipstamatic of course!
ReplyDeleteHi Sophie. Thanks for this very generous summary. Apart from sounding very, very croaky I was pleased with what I said, although I don't think I said it quite as well as you paraphrased it :) I went back to work and told them that I had let a national radio audience know that we would not be allowing people to bath in the new library :)
ReplyDeleteGreat summary Sophie! Thank you! I'm so grateful because I think I've actually gained an important and yet almost embarrassingly simple insight. There is nothing to fear about the changes going on within the library comunity cause it's still all about the same old thing: sense-making! And there is a lot more to making sense than just reading. I can't believe I have'nt been able to formulate it like that before.
ReplyDelete