Before I went to bed on Friday night, I was reading an article from the Saturday
Washington Post ... (does that sentence strike you as odd? Is it like the opening line to Orwell's
1984 - "It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" - the words are right, but something is just off a bit) ...
So, on Friday I was reading - online of course - the Saturday
WPost story about the
further consolidation of the print edition (Book World gone, Sunday Source, gone but not lamented). Now, it's the Business section (and
even more comics, including Zippy the Pinhead). The editor had lots of comforting words to say, but in reality, how long can the traditional print newspaper model really survive? A few weeks ago in conversation (probably when Book World folded), I was saying two years. Now, I'm not so sure ... so as I went to bed I started thinking about this blog post, but when I woke up, there on the Twitter feed was
Carl Malamud tweeting Clay Shirky's latest blog post,
Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable.
Reading the post on my mobile device, I was all "gosh darn it" he's said it all. He hit all the points (Elizabeth Eisenstein, music industry, trying hard, embracing technology, etc.). So, while I'm still thinking about it on my morning walk, I was playing around with Shirky's arguments, in his equation, n=newspapers.
But what about the rest of us? What about the same general arguments where n=x (and x=travel agents, x=airline check in staff, x=stock brokers, x=x)? Well, a lot of those professions have already seen the future.
So, what if n=libraries?
For the past 15 years libraries have been putting up a good fight against the forces that are hitting newspapers, the rest of the publishing industry, book stores, etc. Forces of change in the library profession are trying mightily to move the profession to a safe haven that will keep it away from the forces battering much of the world of media and retail.
It's a hard fight. Many in the profession still like to hide behind the surveys of users that show "we love you". And I agree, they say they love us, but do they know where we are? But as The Shirelles asked, "will you still love me tomorrow?".
Like many radical changes, I fear that the future of libraries will not be decided on a path that follows a long slow curve (up or down - put your money down, I won't offer a suggestion here), but rather one rather be asymptotic. Things are going to look much the same as they have for the past few years and then there will be a tipping point. Things will change. Fast. In a Blink. (yes, I've read Malcolm Gladwell!).
And yes, I still go to the library everyday. And hope for the best ... and yes, I do look at the print edition that comes thumping to my door at 5:30 am each morning, but more often, it's used to catch cat vomit or put under wax paper when making cookies (yes, I use different sections, but with the consolidation, that's going to get harder and harder!).
Last thoughts, from Mr. Yeats:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
and so ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Discuss among yourselves, and the last one to leave should turn out the lights
