As the changing role of the media represents a move away from traditional paper (delayed) content, and into digestible (immediate) content via digital forms, libraries could be seen as being squarely in line to meet the same fate as the physical newspaper, which is experiencing a slow and agonising death of redundancy (funding and relevancy) in the fast-paced progressive 21st century world. It is refreshing, therefore, to see that libraries around the world are responding to this change by aiming to change shape into a modern beacon of connected digital relevancy. This means, offering far more than just books. Nevertheless, by performing this change to include increasing digitisation and 24-hour online electronic access, the question should be asked: are they shooting themselves in the foot by driving away interest in their physical spaces? The answer is both yes and no, because the key is balance. Balancing virtual content, coupled with a physical space that is seen and performs as a vibrant cultural hub, is the key for the modern library to sustain relevancy (Oddone, 2016). Like Madonna, libraries are now vehicles that are living in a perpetual state of transformation, reinventing themselves to maintain relevancy and sustain and promote interest, engagement and learning. Within my time as a university student I have witnessed great change in our libraries, particularly around digitising analog texts. I have seen physical opening hours extended, 24-hour ‘virtual’ opening hours a reality, and the digitisation of huge amounts of texts (and their availability to access through the Internet). This being said, a convincing argument can well be made into the necessity to physically visit a library as a student, as an extraordinary amount of resources are readily available at my fingertips at home via virtual library access. However, as we are still in a transitional stage of information development, a greater portion of these texts must still be accessed physically, and a visit to the library will always be needed to access the full scope of available texts. This point of view of course, only considers libraries as a resource to use only when studying (a finite view). The full scope of what a physical library represents in today’s modern world is so much more. Libraries are now catering for what the public is demanding – namely access to the Internet, as well as providing space for them to work, talk, and interact. This means libraries have also physically changed; providing large areas of connected space for patrons to not only use provided computers and benches, but use stations, and connect with others in designated ‘gathering spaces’ and meeting rooms (commonly soundproofed) that are used for bringing people together for cultural engagement, or “a multi-purpose community hub” (Thompson, 2013). They have become go-to hubs for teaching and learning, for the public to become more engaged with technology through workshops designed and run by the librarians themselves (such as computer skills, language development, free information sessions, etc). The most exciting area of transformation for me is the digitisation of early, I mean early texts, such as microfilm, personal and professional collections (such as diaries, photos, letters, official documents) that were previously quite difficult to access. These important texts ran the risk of being lost entirely due to physical degrading of quality (especially microfilm and fading photographs), and it is exciting to see that not only are these texts being preserved by digitally copying or scanning them, they are being restored to ‘original’ quality (via software such as Photoshop), as well as being made freely available to be viewed by the entire community – and easily. The goal here is to balance digital (virtual) and physical spaces so a library can still be seen as a critically important space where ideas and resources combine into a cultural hub of ideas, learning, and enjoyment. The absorption of technology and integration into everyday lives, especially in the way we digest media should make people more aware of the usefulness and place of libraries within 21st century culture, with libraries being more relevant as ever. It remains to be seen whether the government and education heads will see libraries in a similar light in the future, or have their viewpoint stuck on libraries as outdated dust-collectors. References: Doherty, T. (2014). Why do we still need public libraries in the digital age? Voices (September 19). Retrieved from https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-still-need-public-libraries-digital-age Oddone, K. (2016). The importance of school libraries in the google age. Connections 98(3), 1-3. Retrieved from http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/home.html Thompson, S. (2013, Oct .1). The walls come down in the modern library: Public libraries are being transformed from book repositories to community hubs in a digital age. The Irish Times.
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Liz SimsI am currently completing a Masters in Inclusive Education. I work as a teacher aide specialising in Music and Media Studies. ArchivesCategories |