Weinheimer Jim wrote:
>
> So, if we are indeed, doomed to oblivion, it doesn't mean that we have
> to go meekly, but we can decide to go down only after putting up the
> very best fight we possibly can.
A fight? You certainly mean we have to become more convincing than we
are now. We have to make it more obvious what the benefit of having
libraries and their services is. We have to demonstrate that we are
dealing with all sorts of tasks related to and important for education
and a knowledge-based society, that we are not solely committed to
guarding books gathering dust on miles of shelving.
Next year, there'll be an opportunity: German librarians will have their
100th annual conference in Berlin (7-10 June):
http://www.bibliothekartag2011.de/
And the motto is: "Libraries for the future / A future for libraries"
Newly open in Berlin is the new "Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm Zentrum"
library of Humboldt University, close to the old building of the
State Library:
http://www.ub.hu-berlin.de/ueber-uns/standorte/jacob-und-wilhelm-grimm-zentrum/rauminformation-grimm-zentrum
This huge new building has lots to offer beyond books, and it was
an instant hit with students.
Type "jacob und wilhelm grimm zentrum" in Google image search to see
scores of pictures, that building is really a sight. The immense
"reading room" is full even on Sundays with its hundreds of computerized
desks. (Visited there last Sunday and yes, it's true.)
So, oblivion doesn't appear to be round the next corner for libraries,
but of course they are no longer the only show in town for people
seeking information, and neither, or less and less so, do they contain
all the most relevant information on most questions people have.
B.Eversberg
Received on Fri Mar 26 2010 - 04:10:07 EDT