Introduction
The biggest changes in public libraries over the coming years will arise
from the development of information technology (IT). These revolutionary
changes will bring about previously undreamed of increases in the quality
and quantity of detailed informatio information and knowledge readily and
speedily available to the public. It is not possible to predict exactly
the technology that will make this information accessible, but the
government does predict that, whatever the technology, there will be a
central role for public libraries.
Department of National Heritage, Reading the Future (1997)
The information superhighway should not just benefit the affluent or the
metropolitan. Just as in the past books were a chance for ordinary people
to better themselves, in the future online education will be a route to
better prospects. But just as books are available from public libraries,
the benefits of the superhighway must be there for everyone. This is a
real chance for equality of opportunity...
Tony Blair, New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country (1996)
- The introduction of information and communication technologies
presents a challenge and opportunity for the United Kingdom as great as
the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. However, many
citizens and communities will need help to meet the new demands of the
emerging information society. Individual access to information and
communications networks will be impeded by cost. And even as prices fall
and ownership of suitable systems spreads, the intellectual challenge of
obtaining access will remain, requiring skills development and support
in information-handling for all citizens.
- Public libraries are the ideal vehicle to provide this access and
support, and to foster the spread of vital new technological skills
among the population. Well over half the population already use
libraries, and librarians have an unrivalled reputation for helping the
knowledge-seeker.
- This report argues for the transformation of libraries and what they
do; it makes the case for re-equipping them and reskilling their staff
so that they can continue to fulfil their widely valued role as
intermediary, guide, interpreter and referral point - but now helping
smooth the path to the technological future.
- Tomorrow's new library will be a key agent in enabling people of all
ages to prosper in the information society - helping them acquire new
skills for employment, use information creatively, and improve the
quality of their lives. Libraries will play a central role in the
University for Industry, in lifelong learning projects, and in support
of any individual who undertakes self-development.
- Tomorrow's new library will be integrated components of a new
national educational system - meshed into the National Grid for
Learning, partnering schools, facilitating homework clubs, supporting
literacy acquisition, and helping children and students access and
interact with learning resources worldwide.
- Tomorrow's new library will remain open and accessible to all,
without precondition, whether for material in printed form or for access
to the wealth of resources available online. Libraries will continue to
be the first recourse for meeting all information needs.
- Tomorrow's new library will continue to make information about every
aspect of life available to people, and provide hugely valued leisure
and cultural opportunities. As other institutions and services adopt new
technologies, it is vital that libraries are at the leading edge of
change and maintain their place at the hub of the community
- Tomorrow's new library will enable people to involve themselves more
fully with the democratic process. Using information and communication
technology, people will have ready access to local, central government
and EU information and services. They will be able to contact and
interact with government, their local councillors and their MPs. The
networked library, equipped with new technology, will provide people
with many more opportunities to participate in the decision-making
processes that affect their lives.
- The library is an enormously powerful agent for change: accountable
to and trusted by people, and integral to education, industry,
government and the community. A UK-wide information network made
available through libraries and implemented on the basis of a
high-specification central core could do more to broaden and encourage
the spread of information and communication technology skills among the
population - especially the young - than any other measure the
government could introduce.
- These developments will bring benefits - including export
opportunities - throughout the UK economy, and not least for its
software and graphics industries. Experience in the USA has already
shown that it is those who have had easy access to powerful computers at
a relatively early age who have gone on to build the Silicon Valley
industries.
- Renewed and reinvigorated by technology investment, libraries will
become very different places. They will retain their spaces for books,
study, exhibitions and events, but they will gain new learning spaces -
interactive spaces - new uses and new users.The rapid spread of
high-performance communications will mean that even the most remote
rural library will offer access to the same facilities as a large urban
library, providing a means to draw in those people who, through
geography, are furthest removed from the opportunities offered by the
Information Age.
- Librarians will add new skills to their current capabilities. They
will help people overcome their anxieties about the new world of
networked and digitised information, and assist them to navigate through
it.
- This development of an information society and the introduction of
the UK Public Library Network - the people's network - will require the
library service itself to change. This report describes the nature of
the changes required and proposes the establishing of a Public Library
Networking Agency to bring them about, while maintaining the best of
what people currently value in their local library service.
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