#15 Perspectives

It is interesting to me to read the different articles on the future of libraries. I am from a small, rural area where our public library has three computers for its patrons. For the most part this satisfies our patrons. When I read about how libraries are changing I can see that this is happening and the need for it to happen, but I also realize that with an aging population in rural America we have many patrons who still like to find information in print sources. Things have changed a great deal already in this regard over the past decade and will continue to do so. Our librarians will have to work to make the patrons feel like they have access to more and better information using the computers than they do by looking everything up in books. Right now our economy is doing poorly. Libraries are more important than ever during this time. Resources are found at the library for free. Entertainment is free as well. Instead of spending budget dollars on the "just in case" collection that may never be utilized it is important to look at how the budget dollars can best be spent so that people and communities are best being served.
In a school library the idea of finding information on on line sources is interesting as well. High schools and middle schools may do this more than elementaries. I am in an elementary library in an urban setting. My budget dollars get reduced each year, it seems. Yet, I am still purchasing books. However, my students are not doing the heavy research like middle and high school students might. They are focusing on reading easy readers and chapter books. I don't have a lot of "just in case" stuff in my collection. We also suffer from random and all too frequent problems with our internet service. This makes for major problems when an activity has been planned using the internet and we are unable to access things.
Librarians will need to continue to look to the future in order to keep up with the changing roll of technology.