As the future emerges

 Libraries will adapt, will change, and will continue.  Libraries have been storehouse for books and book distribution for so long that the two are nearly synonymous.  Imagine a library without books?  It will likely never happen, but their placement in our culture will be less prestigious.   However, libraries exist beyond books; in fact I would argue they always have.  It is only through the close involvement between books and libraries that confusion has arisen as to what a library really is.  I apologize for the condensing something so complex into one sentence, but here we go.  A Library is part of the information ecosystem; the role performed by libraries is to connect people to information.  
 
Libraries represent the best of ourselves with respect to each other.  Libraries are a form of sharing, and a reflection of the community.  Now I am going to leave that thought there, for the path it will lead me down deviates from my ultimate goal.  Stepping away from the past, and the library’s traditional role of book acquisition and dissemination, let us think briefly on current trends and project those trends into the future.
 
The internet.  Simply put it is the be all and end all for our information now.  For richer or poorer we have become wedded to it.  As life is diverse and our reality reflects the diversity of ourselves and our tools, books and print are not invalidated, only their usage and reasons for existing have become transformed.  While books have changed, the purpose of libraries has not.  Libraries still exist to insure free flowing information to all elements of our culture.  As books were the dominate, if not only, method by which information once flowed, libraries, in pursuing their purpose,  embraced the prevailing technology of the time.
 
Technology has changed, but the prime purpose of a library has not.  Libraries still exist to share information.  As the internet is information, so must a library update and adapt its tools and methods.  Where once we bought books in abundance and created a system for loaning, so must systems for internet access and information literacy come into being.
 
Internet Connected Computer Labs have done this very well, though I expect we will see these begin to vanish from libraries.  I expect computer labs will disappear fully before books do.  Technology, until recently, required computer labs.  Libraries had to embrace this “new” paradigm.  However, as wifi grows, and the proliferation of highly portable and connected devices, means (like books) the computer lab will become deprecated.  Libraries will become connected access points for those who need it.  Electricity may become that which we “loan” out.  Devices will replace books, dvds, games, cds, and so forth on our shelves. 
 
Libraries and Librarians will become guides to this deluge of information.  As we continue to produce the need for authority will emerge, and libraries will find themselves, not as research houses, but connectors and sign posts.
 
Though those of us who still love to hold a book in our hands will not be left behind, for libraries cannot disenfranchise any of their patrons.  Whether it is a book, a device, or advice, the library will be there to assist and guide you through your information queries.