Week #6, Thing #15, Library 2.0: Where do we go from here?

One of the perspectives I read was Dr. Wendy Schultz's to a temporary place in time... I thought the way she illustrated the evolution of the library, from the past to the future, was very interesting. Who would have thought we might look back on where we've come from and coin the term "library 1.0"? She talks about how the library is "dynamic" - evolving with the needs of its patrons. The library will progress to an even more virtual experience, reaching its patrons almost anywhere in the world. I liked Schultz's remarks that users/patrons will still seek out librarians as "tour guides" to their information and that even in a virtual world users will still seek out human contact to point them in the right direction. I chuckled when I read the predictions for library 4.0 - in that the library would become spa-like and users would come in to get away from the hubbub going on outside those walls.

Library 2.0 represents the way that the library and library services are evolving. The same old, same old of the past will not work here. It includes many tools which I can utilize to best meet the needs of my students. What does library 2.0 mean for school libraries? My first thought is that it means schools, especially at the elementary level need to reexamine how they view the library program. No longer are we just the "keeper of the books", and we cannot continue to be viewed as "prep providers". We also need to have the technology to meet our students needs (not just for technology's sake or because it was available through a grant). Until these library 1.0 standards begin to evolve, school libraries may be falling behind.