Thing #15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0

It's a brave new world.  

I am both, challenged and invigorated by, and wary of, the library of the future.  The ever developing tools of web 2.0 allow for the expansion of the library far beyond the physical boundaries of the building.  Patrons can access materials and information from anywhere, needing only their magic wand of a library card ...

but what about the patron who cannot use the web, either because of financial inability or because of an inability to learn how to use the technology?  One librarian wrote of not becoming so enamored of technology that we lose the ability to pick and choose what actually works for us in meeting the needs of the patrons.  Another challenged us to walk away from the idea of building comprehensive "in case" collections.

I do not think of our physical collection as "in case."  The collection is there to service not only those with no access to computers and the internet, but those who still prefer the experience of holding a book and reading from the page, or watching a video on something other than a computer monitor.  (Although, as a side note, one son's new screen is probably bigger than that of the first TV we bought as newly minted adults.)  

I believe the need for a physical collection in a public library will exist beyond the five or ten years predicted for libraries to become something "substantially different."  I hope we never forget the one end of the spectrum in pursuit of the other.