Folkebibliotekerne er også i farezonen!

Den indflydelsesrige amerikanske meningsdanner, Seth Godin (forfatter til bl.a. bogen Tribes) har på sin blog skrevet om The Future of the Library, her folkebiblioteket. Hvis man tror, at folkebiblioteket er den sidste bastion for den klassiske biblioteksfunktion, tager man åbenbart fejl:

“The library is no longer a warehouse for dead books. Just in time for the information economy, the library ought to be the local nerve center for information. (Please don’t say I’m anti-book! I think through my actions and career choices, I’ve demonstrated my pro-book chops. I’m not saying I want paper to go away, I’m merely describing what’s inevitably occurring).”

Men så kan de vel udlåne e-bøger? Ak, nej: “Librarians that are arguing and lobbying for clever ebook lending solutions are completely missing the point. They are defending library as warehouse as opposed to fighting for the future, which is librarian as producer, concierge, connector, teacher and impresario.”

Men hvad skal de da? “The next library is a place, still. A place where people come together to do co-working and coordinate and invent projects worth working on together. Aided by a librarian who understands the Mesh, a librarian who can bring domain knowledge and people knowledge and access to information to bear.” Det er informationsrollen, der understreges her. I dansk sammenhæng ville man vel også fokusere på kulturrollen.

Læs Seth Godins blogindlæg The future of the library