How Important are Libraries? Will the Future Change This?

Are libraries becoming obsolete? Is the internet going to replace the library? I ran across this great post about the importance of libraries and librarians and contrary to popular belief, libraries are here to stay. This is very encouraging since I am about to embark on the first step to becoming a librarian myself. Not that I needed this information to make the decision to go to library school, but it does include some very good points:

• Not everything is available on the internet
• Digital libraries are not the internet
• The internet complements libraries, but it doesn’t replace them
• Digitization Doesn’t Mean Destruction
• In fact, digitization means survival
• Digitization is going to take a while. A long while.
• Libraries aren’t just books
• Library attendance isn’t falling – it’s just more virtual now
• Like businesses, digital libraries still need human staffing
• Physical libraries can adapt to cultural change
• Physical libraries are adapting to cultural change
• Eliminating libraries would cut short an important process of cultural evolution
• Wisdom of crowds is untrustworthy, because of the tipping point
• Librarians are the irreplaceable counterparts to web moderators
• Unlike moderators, librarians must straddle the line between libraries and the internet
• The internet is a mess
• The internet is subject to manipulation
• Libraries’ collections employ a well-formulated system of citation
• Libraries can preserve the book experience
• Libraries are stable while the web is transient
• Libraries can be surprisingly helpful for news collections and archives
• Libraries are a stopgap to anti-intellectualism
• Old books are valuable

Read the full list and details.