Recently, I was discussing media use patterns with Erin Reilly, the research director on Project NML. One of the things we started talking about was what a modern library user does.
I'm sure that many people use libraries in many different ways, but for me, a library mostly functions as an aesthetic space. I like to go to beautiful and monumental libraries because they inspire me and make me think about how noble the pursuit of knowledge is.
The Library of Congress foyer, by sandcastlematt.
I like to go to small, stuffy, hot libraries and work in a carrel because I associate carrels with being a serious student: I never feel like I am
really writing a term paper unless I'm writing it in a carrel.
A library carrel, by audreym.
I like to walk through the stacks of a public library because I am more likely to pick up a book I've never read before if I get the chance to pick it up, look at the cover, and turn it over in my hands.
The shelves of the Bird City Library, by Adventures in LIbrarianship.
So the idea of a physical library is pretty important to me, but not for the reasons that one might expect. I spend a lot of time in libraries, but unless I'm just trying to kill time, I don't actually go to the stacks and look for books to check out very often. Instead, I use online catalogs as if they were Netflix. If I want to read a specific book or books on a specific topic, I go online and search for them in the catalogs of all the libraries near me. Then, I order them and just go pick them up when they're ready. I use the "search" function in very specific ways, to find the particular information I need.
But what about the Learning Library? I envision the Learning Library as a tool that includes both aspects of a library: a tool where you can either browse around and have fun or where you can look for a very specific skill that you want to learn about and zero right in on it. I also hope that the Learning Library will be an inspiring virtual place. That might be a lofty goal, but I think it's an achievable one. One of the goals of the Learning Library is to emphasize how much everyone can create and achieve in our participatory culture. I think that's a pretty inspiring idea.
So I'm going to try and keep the idea of a physical library in my head as I work on the not-so-physical Learning Library. I wonder what my children will think of when they think of the word "library" - will they enjoy looking around in the stacks? Will they even know what a carrel is? Or will they associate the word "library" with projects like the Learning Library? I suppose that only time will tell.
