I read the opinion article from the July 17 edition of the CSMonitor feeling several things. I too have wondered where all this sudden desire to grasp technology and stuff it into our libraries is taking us. And I wonder where are all the librarians in this process going? What is with this race to technology I've been witnessing? Is there some sort of HUGE prize I'm not aware of that the winner will get? What point or purpose does it make to lose sight of our past successes? Libraries have been places of education and that seems to be something many libraries are desperately trying to stop being. Sure, we'll be places where information can be stored and found but let us not go any further. We're too busy looking for the next new technology. Or are we? I know there are many of you with the rote answers here: over worked, underpaid, no budget, no time, etc. I too have heard them from my own managers and directors. Yet something bothersome (lack of silence) and creepy (TV in children's section, kids queuing up to play games) is going on in libraryland and I'm afraid it will be too late to correct once it becomes ingrained. Giving in to the trends is dangerous and so is trying to be everything to everyone.
Article: Restore the Noble Purpose of Libraries: Focusing so much on their technology actually dumbs them down
By: William H. Wisner
Christian Science Monitor July 17, 2009
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