Will tomorrow's libraries become more like museums of today -- A question for the coming decade

Libraries, archives and museums have a common function, i.e., collect information as depositories. To this extent Kathryn Kozak's bibliography IFLA's Public Libraries, Archives and Museums: Trends in Collaboration; Information Organization in Libraries, Archives and Museums: Converging Practices and Collaboration Opportunities by Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, et al., @ 2009 ASIS&T Annual Meeting ... and 'Museums and Libraries ... perfect together From Stephen Abrams' show dependence and relationship of libraries and museums.

The punchline is here: "Libraries may have changed over the years - no longer do pages carry scrolls in wooden buckets - but the need for a repository of knowledge remains." [Survivor: The History of the Library]

Are then, libraries contented with this convergence or is it a trial period? Does such a convergence and synchronization reflect on the ability / inability to continue with the foundations of librarianship? See, the bottomline, below for the foundations as spelled by the Guru of Library Science.

Whereas, libraries have a distinct function: dissemination, that includes, user-oriented services offered through circulation, reference service, information literacy, bibliographic assistance, etc. (plus providing open access, free for all and open for all--as against touch-me-not museum pieces).

Lest we forget, the Five Laws of Dr. S R Ranganathan-- (see: here and here)--illustrate this distinctiveness of libraries. And, if this distinction is hindered, altered or deleted, libraries may simply fit in a category called touch-me type of museum. This is not to undermine one factor: selection, acquisition, processing, and storage are the common functions of libraries, archives, museums, etc.

Hence, librarians, administrators and library users, are reflecting or at least facilitating to consider whatz up:

"Will tomorrow's libraries become more like museums of today – depositories of cultural artifacts?" says, Brinley Franklin, Vice Provost, University of Connecticut Libraries (ACRL – NEC, Spring 2005 Conference , The Future of College & Research Libraries: The Future is Now May 20, 2005)

"Over time there will only be a few large libraries, much like the museums of today." A comment by a reader (in N.J. libraries face budget crunch, cuts in services By Matt Dowling, The Star-Ledger, January 02, 2009)

"Libraries of yesterday are the museums of today. I do not know what will be the future in this computer age?" says, a library user; he sent me these pictures, depicting the grandeur and the glory of these library buildings (libraries, with hardly any users or privilege to borrow, browse, etc.): Libraries of Europe

"The armories of yesterday must become the museums of today; and our libraries must become the armories of tomorrow." Another user on the Web

Austin Pub Library: Not a Museum ~ Your Story, Your Archive: An Exhibit About the Value of Archives

"Library conservation is not like museum conservation, which aims to make an object fit for essentially passive use, such as exhibition. Library materials can be heavily used and must withstand the risk of misuse." The Evidence in Hand: Report of the Task Force on the Artifact in ..

The London Museum Librarians and Archivists Group 2009 Conference: Not Museum Pieces: the Role of Archivists and Librarians in Museums to be held 10 September 2009, The National Gallery, London, UK

An assessment of inter-indexing consistency among library, archive and museum professionals. Abstract.
See also: An Assessment of Inter-Indexing Consistency ... survey
@ ChristineAngel.org

Bottomline:
“A library is not a museum but a workshop full of life and activity. It is not the books which gets rapidly worn out by constant use that should worry a library according to this view, but it is the book which would seldom leave the shelf that needs anxious attention and effective treatment. This view is now revolutionizing everything connected with the library.” Quoted from A Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations. Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) p. 319

The Best Bottomline of the Year 2009 by Dan Lett

If more city councillors were married to librarians, it would be an easy call. Is writing on the wall for city's libraries? By: Dan Lett,

Libraries discussed in the above article:

The new Minneapolis Central Library

The New York Public Library in Manhattan

Vancouver Public Library

Seattle Central Library with Rem Koolhaas

Winnipeg Public Library – Millennium Library

See on the same shelf:

The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World

Librarians at the gate [Toronto Reference Library renovation]

Really Modern Library

Eight recipients announced for 2009 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards

The Library of Alexandria by Kelly Trumble

Better by Design: An Introduction to Planning and Designing a New Library Building by Ayub Khan

Property tax boost to help libraries [Vancouver City Council], Globe and Mail - Wendy Steuck - ‎Dec 18, 2009‎

2009 I Love My Librarian Award Ceremony

2009 I Love My Librarian Award Ceremony
December 21st, 2009 by Greg; Photos now available on Flickr

The 2009 I Love My Librarian Awards recognized 10 librarians who are making a difference in their communities in a December 3 ceremony. The award is sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the New York Times...

What should users expect in a great library? The 10 winners of the 2009 I Love My Librarian award share their perspectives on what users deserve, and how they've worked to achieve it.

When: Wed Dec 23, 2009 – Mon Jan 18, 2010
Where: AL Focus Video Village on ALA Island ...[source]

Winners of the I Love My Librarian award were selected by more than 3,200 library users from academic, public and school libraries nationwide. The 2009 award recipients are:

Sol A. Gómez
Branch Manager, Librarian II
Pima County Public Library, Sam Lena-South Tucson Branch
Tucson, Ariz.

Laura Grunwerg
Director of Youth and Young Adult Services
River Edge Public Library
River Edge, N.J.

Lucy Hansen
Lead Librarian
South Texas Independent School District, Biblioteca Las Américas
Mercedes, Texas

Alice K. Juda
Reference Librarian
U.S. Naval War College
Newport, R.I.

Karen E. Martines
Public Administration Library Department Head
Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland, Ohio

Dwight McInvaill
Director
Georgetown County Library
Georgetown, S.C.

Séamus Ó’Scanláin (Scanlon)
Librarian and Assistant Professor
Center for Worker Education Library (The City College of New York)
New York, N.Y.

Dana Thomas
Media Specialist
Cypress Lake Middle School
Fort Myers, Fla.

Carolyn Wheeler
Media Specialist
Conant Elementary School
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Rochester Hills Public Library
Youth Services Librarian
Rochester, Mich.

Oceana Wilson
Director of Library and Information Services
Crossett Library, Bennington College
Bennington, Vt. ... [source: ALA Public Information Office]

Reading between the Shelf - Thought for the day

Virtual Dave Lankes' Tweet  # 2009/12/13 "Why did the library go to the psycologist? To get in touch with its inner shelf." [source]

see also:

Multifaith Stacks: Reading Between the Shelves

Germany's Ph.D. Scandal: Were Degrees Bought?

• Germany's Ph.D. Scandal: Were Degrees Bought?
  
  By Tristana Moore / Berlin Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, Time.com
  "Getting a Ph.D. is the pinnacle of academic achievement, but appears that some aspiring students in Germany may have bribed their way to the top. On Aug. 22, German prosecutors revealed that they are investigating around 100 academics at some of the country's top universities on the suspicion that they granted doctorates to dozens of unqualified students after taking bribes from a consultancy firm. The scandal has shaken Germany's higher education system, revered abroad as one of the best in Europe.
  
  
  The investigation follows a raid on an academic consultancy called the Institute for Scientific Counselling in the western town of Bergisch Gladbach in March 2008. At the time, the authorities uncovered a mine of information pointing to illegal activity and confiscated thousands of files, including contracts between the firm and lecturers, and evidence of bank transfers. Prosecutors in the city of Cologne say the institute helped doctoral candidates find a supervisor and paid lecturers to take on Ph.D. students. "Some Ph.D. students paid up to $30,000 to get their doctor titles," Günther Feld, a senior prosecutor in Cologne tells TIME. "Many people had received mediocre results in exams and they weren't eligible to do a Ph.D. in the first place." ... continue reading
  
  See also: Germany: 100 professors suspected of Ph.D. bribes (AP): here
  
  
  

Books & Libraries @ Facebook

• Asian Classics Input Project:

"The Asian Classics Input Project was founded in 1988 to preserve and freely distribute ancient Asian classical literature, and to support refugees in doing this work. Millions of texts were destroyed during and after the 1959 invasion of Tibet, and many others are buried in libraries throughout Asia. During the past 20 years, the Asian Classics Input Project has saved thousands of these endangered masterpieces by combing monasteries, libraries and archives throughout Asia. After finding these..." (read more)

• Books for a better Future Program 2009:
  

"The Books for a Better Future Program is a student initiative which seeks to collect old and unwanted academic textbooks, specifically from, but not limited to, tertiary students, academic staffers and libraries, for distribution to a number of tertiary partners in India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

We would especially like to collect books in the fields of commerce, law, history, nursing, women’s studies and engineering. VCE textbooks and language resources used to teach English would also be..." (read more)