Getting So Old – Defense Against the Demise of the Academic Library Continues

The Chronicle never misses an opportunity to forecast the demise of the library, and the latest doom and gloom article published on January 2nd was a pip.  Academic Library Autopsy Report, 2050, by Brian T. Sullivan (himself an academic librarian and undoubtedly considered by some at this point to be the proverbial “traitor in our midst”) sparked a predictably heated debate.  Wesleyan University Librarian Patricia A. Tully offers a very different vision in her letter to the editor, The Library’s End? A Long Way Off, published by The Chronicle on January 23rd.  Kudos!

When I first arrived at Mitchell nearly ten years ago, it was The Deserted Library (subtitled As Students Work Online, Reading Rooms Empty Out — Leading Some Campuses to Add Starbucks), published in The Chronicle on November 16, 2001, a mere two months to the day into my tenure as Director of Library Services.  The Library, as it happens, was indeed deserted; and, naturally, I heard from both the President and the Dean about this article.  Long story short, however, Library and Information Services (LIS) today blends library and educational technology services and is far from deserted (despite, I might add, the absence of a cafe and its rather remote campus location …).    Interestingly, the author of this infamous article, Scott Carlson, now co-hosts The Chronicle’s monthly technology podcast Tech Therapy, and the conversations in consideration of libraries have taken a decidedly different turn.  Today, libraries are transforming into learning commons, and the developing trend is towards a blending of traditional academic technology and library services for the seamless support of teaching and learning. I see this significantly evidenced in the evolution of Educause, whose publications, resources, and regional and national conferences attract and provide important professional support and development opportunities to a growing community of hybrid information professionals.  Moreover, the concept of  blended librarianship was proposed by librarians Stephen J. Bell and John Shank in what now is considered a landmark article published in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) C&RL News in 2004.  The Blended Librarian website is testimony to the viability of this new trend in librarianship.  I applaud Patricia Tully’s counter vision for a vibrant profession and see plenty of evidence for its continued exciting evolution.

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