I found a great little photo essay about the changing image of libraries. I was intrigued by the industrial look of the new Seattle Public Library, pictured on the left.I realize that the look of libraries isn't exactly what we're blogging about this week, but I got to thinking about how the image does correspond to the changes in services libraries are offering over the past few years. We're providing new and different services, and naturally that will change the look of the venue.
I spent some time reading up on Library 2.0. I guess it's kind of silly for us to be afraid of all the new resources once we realize our patrons are using them all the time- in fact, in many cases, we're using them ourselves, and that's how they get implemented into our services. That's not a new concept at all. We just have to remember that at one time the idea of letting people read and borrow books for free was pretty radical and intimidating.
I'm curious about how we'll continue to integrate what we're learning into our everyday reader's advisory and reference. Just yesterday a patron asked me if there's a way to suggest and request new materials through the library website- is this something we'll be adding to our services? And if so, who will be monitoring the requests? I'll bet there's a way we could streamline the process of going from patron requests to making orders- not sure myself what it would take, but I'm glad people are asking.
1 comment:
I think physical space is actually pretty central to the Library 2.0 movement: if the very basic orientation of a library isn't user-friendly, something is inherently wrong since it exists to serve the people. I'm not sure what it will all take to catch up with the rate of change, but I too, am glad that we're asking about it through this program.
ps: I love the Salt Lake City library--isn't it grand?
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