The Future of Libraries: What We Learned at Gaylord Brothers

The conversation was directed based upon a strategy Jill had learned at the R Squared Conference (Risk and Reward) recently held in Telluride, Colorado.  The strategy involved forming teams with at least one student and one staff representative on each team, and then answering the question: what is the future of libraries?

How We Answered the Question

Larger entities such as Apple, Chuck E. Cheese, and the city of Las Vegas were mentioned to bring a new perspective to the table. The theory behind this strategy was to use a business philosophy for a company to determine the look and feel of a new library.  Chuck E. Cheese, for instance, is focused on providing a unique experience to a specific audience (children) with relatively low product costs or great concern for their non-users (including parents).  

A library built on this structure would determine its central user base and then determine an experience based upon the values of this group.  The point was not that this philosophy should be adopted, but instead, discovering what novel ideas could be determined from examining an issue from a different perspective.  

What We Learned

An interesting outcome was that in many of the models, analog content was seen as being of secondary importance, particularly to the LIS students.  Also, the primary attribute required of the furniture of the future library was that it was mobile and flexible.  Are these two attributes based upon students’ lack of experience within the library world, or instead, a sea change in how we interact with our communities?

I do not have the answer to this question, but I believe conversations between different interested stakeholders, such as LIS students and companies like Gaylord, provide a viewpoint into potential solutions.  

Everyone at the meeting realized that libraries, the services they provide, and the resources needed to provide these services are changing.  By working together we can find solutions that are mutually beneficial, and even more importantly, beneficial to the communities we serve.            

What are your thoughts on the future of libraries? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.