For years now I have wanted to work in a library because I love books. And I don’t just mean reading them. Everything about them. The feel of the pages, the smell of the paper, the crinkling sound of the laminated covers in school libraries, the way they appear on a shelf. It may sound crazy to most, but I know there are people out there like me that get it. The atmosphere that a library can provide; the quiet spaces to dive right in to whatever you are there doing. There isn’t any other place that can offer the same experience.
So imagine my excitement when I finally land a great starting position at a local middle school as a library assistant and the realization of how much has changed since I had last been in one. Obviously the increase in technology was expected, like the numerous computers for students and a smart board. But what wasn’t expected was the emptiness. I’m not talking about how many students are at home doing distance learning or how the limited number in actual attendance don’t visit the library during class time, which is heartbreaking in itself. But I mean the actual number of shelves of books being so low.
I learned that over the last year of distance learning, the librarian had been instructed to weed many of the books (and practically all of the encyclopedias). I get that it is routine for libraries to update their inventory, BUT this was a complete cleanout, leaving it with far less books than it used to have.
So what’s the deal??
This is only the beginning of what I see happening to many other libraries across the country and around the world. More and more books are being produced in an electronic format, easily accessible from anywhere with a touch of a button and many of which available to check out as an ebook with a library membership. Will there just be a digital copy of everything instead of a physical one? Did you know there is already such a thing as a bookless library?! Here is a picture the first one in San Antonio, TX!
It is my biggest fear that what I have known and grown to love will become obsolete in the near future and that my job as a librarian will not be anything like I imagined it to be, if it is anything at all! But according to the article, “Are digital libraries, as opposed to physical ones holding books and magazines, detrimental to our culture,” authors on both sides of the digital divide make great points on how it is possible for both, traditional and digital libraries to coexist. Please check it out here and let me know what you think the future will hold for us library lovers!
Works Cited:
Paradise, L. A., Luft, E. V. D., & Andrews, P. (2002). Are digital libraries, as opposed to physical ones holding books and magazines, detrimental to our culture. In Science in Dispute (Vol. 2, pp. 191-200). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3418600029/OVIC?u=cclc_palomar&sid=OVIC&xid=cd30f30b
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