What Shall We Do With the Libraries?

In the era of Google and Amazon, anyone with a computer or smartphone can access information with greater ease and speed than ever before. As a consequence, in cities and towns across the world the same debate rages each year when budget time rolls around: What’s the purpose of a library in a digital age? Put more harshly, why should we spend tax dollars, in tough economic times, on a library when our readers can instantly get so much of what they need and want from the Internet? As the bulk of funding for police, fire departments, and schools—all necessary services—has become the responsibility of state and local governments, municipal leaders have been forced to ask a question that library supporters aren’t prepared to answer: are libraries necessary?

For most of us, libraries are no longer necessary. How many times recently have you had a debate with a friend, only to resolve the dispute within seconds simply by pulling out a mobile device and looking up the answer? Most of the information that we need in our day-to-day lives can now be found in both analog (meaning “physical”) form and digital form. Most of the time, the digital variants can be accessed by anyone, easily and quickly, from anywhere, using a mobile device. 

The point is that people’s information habits have undergone a sea change—a major shift toward the digital. A related shift is also under way: libraries must increasingly compete with commercial establishments that offer free wireless Internet access and a place to gather, such as Starbucks. In the midst of all this change, libraries of all sizes and types are forced to make the case for their own relevance. 

If most knowledge is accessible in digital formats, on devices that can be carried anywhere, what is the purpose of a traditional library collection of books, journals, magazines, movies, and music? If the Internet is the primary access point for this information, what is the purpose of preserving physical spaces where people can come to find it? If libraries are nothing more than community centers in cities and towns and on college campuses, then what do we need librarians for? Put in negative terms: Are libraries and librarians anachronistic in a digital age? Who, after all, are they serving, and how?

Libraries around the world are trying to remain relevant by "reimagining" the library role as community center on steroids. Library supporters "reimagine" the local Public Library as a place where Diversity Groups (Black Lives Matter, LGBT) can meet and plan their protests. Question is, do we want to pay for this? The "reimagining" plans generally demand expensive digital meeting equipment so that these Diversity Groups can live stream their messages and coordinate with national leadership. "Reimagining" typically requires redecorating, with high dollar Open Spaces and Green Areas.