

What fiction has to say about the libraries of the future - pepys
https://theconversation.com/what-fiction-has-to-say-about-the-libraries-of-the-future-36314

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sunir
The future of libraries is confusing because libraries serve multiple
purposes, not just warehouses of free books.

They are archives.

They are places where the public can ask for the skills of a professional
researcher.

They provide critical civic and informational access to the underprivileged.
You can see this mandate in the libraries as free Internet terminals
initiatives.

They are community centres with art, fitness classes, galleries, gyms, meeting
rooms.

They are daytime shelters for the homeless.

And probably more. As someone with a library degree you'd think I'd know but
honestly spent half my degree hearing librarians talk about what is the future
of the library without getting to the heart of the matter.

Obviously without books libraries are community centres and so the future of
community centres is likely to improve especially as the world urbanizes.

And very likely informational stores will not need to be physically bounded
and can be centralized on the Internet (Google) and even so if localized
(Yelp, Ancestry.com, Wikitravel). That is just economics.

