The Demise of the Public Library.

    Before I start this essay, it is not sour grapes.  I worked as a public librarian for many years.  I am not doing it now, but that is something else.

My mother is officially retired, but still working part time as a librarian. This is something I have been following as Internet is changing society.  I have found some blogs discussing this, so I am not alone here.

Click on Bluestalking Reader to see one.

General Google search for articles.

When I say demise, I do not mean going out of business completely.  I believe more a situation of downsizing and different ways of hiring.

OK, the Masters of Library Science degree.   I realize I am dating myself even calling it that.  It is the Information Science degree.   Click on Occupational Outlook Handbook to see what they have to say.  Yes, there will be retirements and some openings, but the Internet will be a factor.

For most of the public, you will not need a trained reference librarian.  A part time college kid can help out with folks needing computer help.

So how might a public library hire folks.  It could be done more like an apprenticeship system, the way many American lawyers became lawyers at one time in our history.  You would start out as a high school page and work your way through various clerical ranks, etc.

Of course, reference librarians know where the information is and can help people.  No, it is not all on the Internet.  (More in my post on Andrew Keen’s the Cult of the Amateur).  Public perception IS that it is all on the Internet.  Right or wrong, that is the perception.  Think of the statement, politics being the art of the possible.  You have to work with what is, not with what you necessarily dream of.

What made me think of writing this post?  Two things.  An article about the Gilbert (Arizona) Public Library and their changing the shelves from Dewey Decimal to a bookstore setup.  Cafes in libraries.  What does that tell you?

The other thing was I was invited to be on the Tucson Regional Town Hall.  I read the report of course, and the most important thing on the list of priorities was  education.  There was not one mention of the Tucson Pima Public Library in that report.  What does that tell you?  It tells me the public library of this region is not a player.  The director of the library should be hopping up and down like a banshee, but she is not.

By the way, to a certain degree, I am to blame.  Shucks, ten years ago I thought I was ahead of the curve, giving talks about the Internet.  More fool, I.   We could not stop the Internet and it does have its uses.  Again, public perception.

I do not see public library buildings disappearing.  I do see public libraries becoming part of the community center in a large town or city.  Just one element of the community center.  I may have more to write on this.  We shall see.