What are libraries for?

Libraries are artifact-bound institutions, and as such, will be replaced as the dominant technology for information communication moves from tangible objects to electronic bits on a network. As this transition occurs, it is important to understand not what libraries have done, but rather what they are for. Libraries make information easily, publicly, and cheaply available. They are the means through which organizations and communities subsidize the distribution of information to residents and members. Without such support, information is underused, and its potential benefit is lost. As the library fades as the channel for this subsidy, it is critical that the subsidy itself is not lost. If it is, our organizations will be less effective and our communities poorer. By understanding these issues, librarians can shape the information economy so that institutional and community subsidy is maintained, and new technologies enhance and extend information availability. If preserving the library as an institution is our focus, we will fail in these tasks.

What are libraries for?

The primary function of most libraries for the last century and a half has been to make the artifacts that contain information -books, serials, newspapers, and their derivatives - easily and conveniently available to individuals in organizations and communities. Libraries have stored, organized, and preserved these artifacts in ways that no single individual could. While many people collect books, and most buy newspapers and magazines, libraries have been the place to go when one's personal collection was not sufficient, and the place for those with limited economic means to gain access to what they could not otherwise afford. Communities and organizations fund these activities because they recognize that libraries create a common good. Libraries make information more available to the individuals in communities and organizations than would be the case if individuals were left to their own devices. This in turn makes the organization more productive and enhances the quality of life in communities.

Supporting undergraduate education and teaching information literacy to students are chief priorities for academic libraries, trumping their traditional emphasis on collection-building and the preservation and discovery of research materials.

... it is easy to imagine the "library" as a small office with a couple of staff members who negotiate contracts with content providers, survey users, and lobby funding bodies. The content providers will be largely in the private sector and will create the content and the necessary, infrastructure. The library is effectively "out-sourced," and dollars once spent on buildings, printed materials, and staff are now spent on contracts that provide access rights.