Number 15 Future of libraries

Just read an article by Helen Spaulding in Library Management. She discusses how state universities are not being funded as they had been in the past. So universities administrators are searching for financial sources just as private universities have always done. The results can be very demanding for libraries. The library has always been viewed in a positive light. Now with so many students using the Internet and finding material (good and not so good), the once prized library is being looked at as a possible revenue cutting source. Dean Spaulding argues that libraries must look at the principles of market research and apply them to the library to help administrators understand the relevance of libraries in the age of the Internet. At a recent conference, Visions of Change, I heard David Lewis present his ideas on the future of libraries.
He presented the paper at CSU-Sacramento. One concept that he discussed was on the window of opportunity available to libraries for funding. But the window is closing if librarians don't address the needs of new generations / emergent technologies / access, etc. As I listened to Dean Lewis, I thought that taking part in the sjlearning2.0 program is one step in answering this complex puzzle of the future of libraries.