Some initial, random thoughts.
Though Hegman's comments, made in response to a recently passed library levy, are primarily geared to a Seattle audience, he does make a few hyperbolic blanket statements along the way.
On the other hand, I heartily agree with his library (re)design ideas, an increasing concern, especially as it applied to public gathering/meeting/study spaces, during my last few years at Middleton.
Op ed: Seattle's libraries need a makeover for the digital world. (Seattle Times, 8/27/2012)
Excerpt: Specifically, we need to create a librarian portal, where each librarian is tagged with his or her specialty (history, sports, cooking). Whenever any patron asks a question in-person, over the phone or online, the librarian with the most expertise is automatically alerted. He or she would leverage information-management skills -- as well as a deep understanding of library databases -- to pull the perfect book or find the perfect online resource. Best of all, they can provide assistance remotely, from another branch or from home.
Comment: In my 30 years of experience working at a reference desk (8 years at the Oshkosh Public Library and 22 years at the Middleton Public Library), finding the perfect book or online resource was overtaken in the early 2000s, if not before, by the customer-fueled emphasis of providing a variety of informal assistance in the use of public access computers: word processing, Excel spreadsheets, email, filling out online forms, and all kinds of Internet searches.
In general, just how well would George's Seattle model work in Wisconsin?
As shown in the first table, half of Wisconsin's public libraries are located in communities of less then 2,500 population. The average FTE (fulltime equivalent) among there 196 libraries employee is 1.75. Oftentimes, the person with the most expertise is working alone. And this staff member, though being certified or having participated in training workshops, is not likely possess an MLS.
Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services
George's essay reminds of a comment a friend of mine from college made one brisk, downbeat fall day. (Some of you have already heard this story -- more than once.)
After an English literature class with the occasionally insufferable Neil Schmitz, we're walking to Norton Union on the UB campus on Wednesday, November 8, 1972.
Crestfallen, Sue says, "I can't believe that Nixon won. Everybody I know voted for McGovern."
Obviously, Sue needed to expand her horizons.
Two more things, George.
It's not as though libraries have been treading water. They are transforming themselves, evolving, just as they always have.
In addition, I have an almost 22-year-old Wikipedia-surfing, smartphone-tapping, game-playing son who has regularly used the Middleton Public Library and the UW-Madison Memorial Library to check out print books this summer. He even read the 1000+ page Shogun*, for crying out loud, in a hardcover-reinforced paperback edition. (*Not sure if this is the site where he discovered this title.)
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