Review of Planning our Future Libraries: Blueprints for 2015. Leeder, K., & Frierson, E. (Eds.). (2014). Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
Robert Connor
How many times in the last three decades have librarians heard that the institutions in which they serve were doomed? So often that each of us can very probably recite the litany of ways that the breakneck pace of technology will consign libraries to the same boneyard where travel agencies now dwell. The editors and authors of this splendid little book have added their voices to that cacophony of gloom with a clear note of thoughtful reason. This slim volume brings us eight fresh voices of younger librarians undismayed by the threats of emerging technology and focused instead on the possibilities of the future.
The editors organized this book into four parts: Embracing Participation, Reimagining Spaces, Building New Infrastructure, and The Global Future. The two essays in the first section deal with the importance of the idea of patron participation (though the first author opines that "patron" will be an inadequate term in 2025) in sustaining future libraries. Brett Bonfield, the first essay's author, foresees patron participation in many of the library's operations including acquisitions. Her piece also includes a concise and enlightening discussion on the origins and defining characteristics of the participatory library.
The second essay in this section is by Dave Harmayer. His vision of the participatory library of 2025 is a place where the "gate keeper" model has been completely abandoned and replaced by what he calls an 'unrestricted, patron-librarian shared model based on a marketing strategy called "radical trust"'. The need for such a model is based on the simple but compelling notion that patron needs change faster than the library's ability to conform.
For the next three essays, the book turns its focus to space. Though Ben Malczewski envisions a paperless library in 2025, he empathizes with those who find meaning in spaces shared with bookcases. For Malczewski, however, meaningful spaces can derive from what he calls "narrative design." Malczweski's idea of narrative design is difficult to envision but he accepts the proposition that humans need thoughtfully designed spaces to optimize study and reflection. The academic environment is the focus of Krisellen Maloney's essay discussing "faculty commons" in which college faculty benefit from resources specifically selected for community needs, in this case, for research and collaborative work. Hugh Rundle, in the last essay of this section, considers traditional library space as limiting librarianship and envisions the librarian of 2025 as one who seeks out patrons where they work, shop, and recreate.
The penultimate section undertakes the perennially vexing challenges of convincing decision makers to invest in library innovation. To this end, Megan Hodge contemplates a self-reliant library staff independent from vendors and outside organizations to produce spaces and systems to keep pace with needs. The management technique used in such an instance would be the "20 percent" management strategy that allows for 20 percent of work time to be devoted to innovation. Finances are the focus of John Chrastka's piece, which foresees a sort of national cooperative of libraries taking advantage of items like tax laws and a national trust for the solution of fiscal problems.
The last section is a fascinating look at current and future libraries in three countries: Nepal, Honduras, and Brazil. In this essay Leslie Farmer includes the indispensable discussion of future library training. This is a well thought out piece and should be expanded upon in the future.
One of the greatest assets of this valuable book is that the reader does not have to agree with any part of it in order to benefit from the whole. It isn't easy to predict the future and it is doubly hard to do so and remain positive when the subject is the future of libraries. Nonetheless, that is what this group of visionaries has done. Highly recommended.
About the author
Robert Connor serves as Faculty Librarian at Triton College, holding an MLIS and PhD in library and information science from Dominican University.
His email address is robertconnor [at] triton [dot] edu.
© 2014