Library 2.0. I think that it means we change to meet the needs of the community. And the quote from our lesson, "libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming" is definitely not true. I think that the public concept of libraries (and to a great extent, librarians) is more of a bank that holds the information as opposed to a store where they can come get information. Some libraries are customer friendly and welcoming, but there are still libraries that are not welcoming and there are still a lot of librarians who want to withhold information more than they want to disseminate it.
Of course, one of the problems (as noted by others) is that the library is different things to different people. One of the problems we have at ours is that to be more welcoming to teens and kids means that a lot of our adult customers feel estranged. People who want to use the library for a quiet refuge are out of luck because our library is more of a community center. We cannot be all things to all people. At our library we offer computer classes but because of space restraints they are out in the library proper - so although we are providing a service for those wanting to learn, we are not providing a service for patrons who want some peace. I think that patrons (as well as librarians) need to understand that there will always be time, money and space restraints. The successful library is the one that juggles these restraints successfully.
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1 comment:
We have similar issues at my branch. When schools let out in the afternoon or for the summer, the kids and teens take over. The computers are both a blessing and a curse, so to speak. When our training lab computers are needed for a class, it tends to inconvenience a lot of our patrons because they then have to wait in line for the next available one. Many novice users request help of some sort. Unfortunately, it is difficult to give one customer too much time when we are short-staffed and must spread ourselves so thin. However, I have learned a lot myself by helping answer patrons' computer-related questions. One of the best things about working in the library is interacting with others and exchanging knowledge.
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