BIBLIOTHEKE

The Council on Library and Information Resources will be publishing a series of essays exploring the value of library space in a time when so many resources are moving online. Written by four librarians, an architect and a humanities professor, the essays apparently underline a growing need for the physical library, albeit with an increased focus on learning, technology and culture. I found some of the suggestions to be refreshingly insightful.

From Kathlin Smith’s review in CLIR issues:

What is the role of a library when users can obtain information from any location? And what does this role change mean for the creation and design of library space?
…
“Ten or fifteen years ago, we were taking all the teaching facilities out of libraries,” [Architect Geoffrey Freeman] writes. “Today, these spaces are back . . . and in a more dynamic way than ever.” These spaces respond to new information and learning technologies, to new pedagogies, and to the demands of interdisciplinary work.
…
Space planning itself has changed. Once driven by formulas that were based on number of volumes housed or of technical functions supported, such planning today relies far more on anticipated user patterns and, ideally, considers how the space contributes to the educational mission of the institution.
…
[Sam Demas, librarian at Carleton College,] uses the ancient Library of Alexandria as a frame of reference for the modern library. Decrying the specialized focus of many academic libraries, he turns to the ideal of the Mouseion—a “temple of the muses”—that was, “in name and in fact, a research center, a museum, and a venue for celebrating the arts, inquiry, and scholarship.” Libraries such as this provide not only information resources but special collections, art exhibits, and performances; they also support scholarship and encourage engagement with it.

Particularly with the announcements of major book digitization projects from Google and the Internet Archive, 2005 will likely be a year focused on reassessing the purpose for the physical library. Clearly Demas is on the right track and, if libraries recognize that technology is actually providing an opportunity for evolution, they can become an even richer cultural and academic resource.

Also on this topic was the Nov 03 The Library As Place: Symposium on Building and Revitalizing Health Sciences Libraries in the Digital Age at the National Library of Medicine. Online is a webcast, powerpoint slideshows and a list of citations.

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