I think that librarians’ shelf books recognize books and even help people locate books. When someone wants help finding a specific book the librarian might help them find it and if there is a topic that someone is researching the librarian might help them find where to start looking. Maybe the person might not know how to use the library catalog or isn’t familiar with the set up of the library, the librarian might help them find what they are looking for. Librarians might also offer technical assistance to the people who need it. What I think that people might consider “cool” if librarians do it is listen to modernized music or music of today. Maybe have music playing in the background softly- it doesn’t have to be in the reading section but maybe in the lab. And in the future, I think that libraries will be bigger and more technological. There may be fewer books in their form and they probably will be in a software form like in a kindle or a nook. People may be able to check books out though the software. So if you were to check out a book they might loan it to you by sending it to you though the “waves” and when the loan time is done they will withdraw the book in its document form from you gadget. This will limit the amount of “lost” books from the library and also eliminating the fines as well. This library of the future will also help the environment because there will be less printed books and they will just be set as software. At least I hope libraries will become more like this- they will also save people lots of time so they don’t have to drive to a library location which might be miles away from where they live.
Excellent post, Shiema! Some of what you’ve described as a future library is actually here NOW! You can download ebooks (electronic books) into eReaders from public libraries such as the Denver Public Library, for example. Some libraries are even circulating iPads and eReaders for our users. Some university libraries circulate laptops and iPads to their students. Many libraries have switched their print journals to electronic ones in the last decade—our library only has 9 print journals that we're subscribing to now, and over 33,000 electronic ones for our students and health practitioners to use, and they don’t even have to be here in the library to use them!
ReplyDeleteTina M. Moser, MLIS
Access Services Librarian
Health Sciences Library
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
P.S. I think you’d be surprised to hear what kind of music librarians listen to! We’re not all old ladies anymore, ha!