Libraries: Limited & Obsolete?

This article by Mark Hirschey appeared in the Oct. 2, 2006 issue of the Lawrence Journal-World. The title "Libraries Are Limited, Obsolete" describes it pretty effectively, but I think  it's worth reading, even if you don't agree with it. Perhaps especially if you don't agree with it, since I'm not convinced that Hirschey's point of view is all that uncommon.

And, I'll be honest, my first instinct is to dismiss this guy out of hand.  My second instinct is to get royally pissed off, and my third instinct tells me to take a deep breath, actually read what he wrote and consider it. Think about it.  Write about it.  So I did.  My response to Hirschey's point of view is behind the edit.

Some librarians will read that last sentence and imagine that I'm selling out by lowering myself to his level to respond.  I don't think that's the case.  Like it or not, libraries are service organizations.  Some make money from more specialized activities than others and most are supported by at least some public and private funds.  If the day comes that we are unable to defend our livelihoods to those who write those checks, then those checks will cease to be written. If we cannot convince people to actually come in and use the resources we have available, then we'll have failed to serve those potential patrons in any meaningful way.

So with that in mind, I'll point out that while  Hirschey's argument is far from iron-clad,  it's not entirely uniformed.  He's right to point out that huge portion of our patrons come in to use our electronic resources rather than the printed volumes.  And he's also right to point out that $70 million--a number I pulled from the comments beneath the article--is an enormous amount of public money to be spent on any kind of project (if it's correct).  And let's face the ugly fact that at least some larger libraries might do well to occasionally rethink who they are serving and how.

At any rate, I think that dismissing Hirschey and those who believe as he does is a mistake.  Let's try to convince them that we're worth keeping around.