3 Articles to Read

“[Y]ou need to start by rewriting – or hacking – the software to change not what the city is but how it behaves.”

“Libraries are a technology for free, large scale inter-generational transfer of knowledge and culture. … Instead of processing, moving, accessioning and purchasing physical or digital items, librarians are better used to organise and share information and stories. Libraries run like this become creation engines.  They become more about creating and sharing a community’s ideas than providing access to the ideas of others…If we combine the ideas of Westbury with Steven Johnson’s ideas about platforms we can envisage the library as a platform for enabling innovation, learning and cultural development to occur in our communities without the need for capital.  Isn’t that a lot more compelling than a place for lending books to people?”

[Via Emily Lloyd]

3. Services More Meaningful Than Ebooks by Aaron Schmidt

http://justinthelibrarian.com/2012/04/25/choice-quotes-from-two-must-read-pieces/

“Why are we obsessed with libraries as places of access to commercially published material? It’s traditional, it’s easy, and it makes for easily measurable circulation. But the publishing industry—an integral part of our ability to provide commercial content—is experiencing upheaval. For the most part, we’ve taken the bait, responding with complaints and, in some cases, boycotts. Something else is going on though. We’re really so upset because we see in publishers’ erratic behavior a reminder that we’ve built libraries on a now shaky foundation.

Unfortunately, this focus is distracting us from the realization that we don’t need to treat access to commercial content as our primary mission. Yes, we’ve put a lot of effort into it in the past, and we’ve done it well. But it’s time to take a step back.”

[via Justin (thelibrarian) Hoenke]

Stephen