Future Shock!

When I became a librarian, I wasn't particularly scared about the arrival of e-technologies: libraries would survive, they had a point of difference (paper, relaxation) and the exisiting digital competitors were cumbersome and the antithesis of what a library could offer.

But now everyone has an iPhone, iPad, Kindle or other portable device. Books can be downloaded in less than a minute, and you can carry hundereds (thousands!) of them away with you on holiday.

A whole generation is growing up portable and on the move. Downloading is the first step, not the last resort.

Is there a role for libraries in this new paradigm, which has altered terrifically since the release of the first iPad and the saturation achieved by Amazon and its Kindle?
Perhaps - as giant, one stop, legal store houses for e-books and other digital information. Libraries with authorized music downloads; libraries with legitimate access to streaming sports; libraries with huge e-book stocks; libraries as Flickr. Places you plug into, and pull information out of.

But places you go and sit quietly and read a paperback? Tick tick tick...