The Future of Libraries

The Future of Libraries
Thomas Frey
November 2nd, 2006
http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2006/11/the-future-of-libraries/

When I talk to people about libraries one of the questions that always comes up concerns the future of libraries. Thomas Frey addresses this issue pretty completely in his article "The Future of Libraries." He starts off discussing the role of libraries in the past as a place to archive information mostly for those who could not afford books because they were very expensive. More recently libraries have shifted more toward a place for people to go who enjoy reading for the sake of reading. Today information is everywhere and can be easily found on the web, this means people go to the library less and less for the purpose of research. Frey brings up some really interesting points in this article. He talks about how books and writing are really just a form of technology and all technology has a "limited lifespan." This means that books eventually will be phased out of popular culture. With new ways of storing information the process of actually finding the information you are looking for will become more and more difficult. Librarians will play an integral role in the libraries of the future. At the end of the article Frey gives libraries some tips about surviving the transition into the future.

I found this article really interesting. The way the library of the future is depicted in this piece sounds really fun and exciting. I would love to be able to hang out and study in library like the one Frey describes. I think that Crossman guy is totally wrong about literacy being dead and the future being totally verbal. One of the main reasons I don't think that will happen is that people simply enjoy silence sometimes. I have a hard time studying when there is music playing that have lyrics... If the world becomes ONLY verbal and all the computers are operated by voice it would be impossible for people to really focus on anything. I do think there will be a verbal aspect but I think Crossman goes a little too far in saying that it will only be verbal and that literacy will be dead by 2050.