"Public libraries remake themselves in digital era" by Karen Ann Cullotta | New York Times, December 28, 2012
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — As librarians across the nation struggle to redefine their roles and responsibilities in a digital age, many public libraries are seeing an opportunity to fill the void created by the loss of traditional bookstores.
Libraries are increasingly adapting their collections and services based on the demands of patrons, whom they now call customers. They are reinventing themselves as vibrant town squares, showcasing the latest bestsellers, lending Kindles loaded with e-books, and offering grassroots technology training centers.
Faced with the need to compete for shrinking municipal finances, libraries are determined to prove they can respond as quickly to the needs of the taxpayers as the police and fire departments can.
‘‘I think public libraries used to seem intimidating to many people, but today, they are becoming much more user-friendly and are no longer these big, impersonal mausoleums,’’ said Jeannette Woodward, a former librarian and author of ‘‘Creating the Customer-Driven Library: Building on the Bookstore Model.’’
‘‘Public libraries tread a fine line,’’ Woodward said. ‘‘They want to make people happy, and get them in the habit of coming into the library for popular bestsellers, even if some of it might be considered junk. But libraries also understand the need for providing good information, which often can only be found at the library.’’
Cheryl Hurley, president of Library of America, a nonprofit publisher in New York ‘‘dedicated to preserving America’s best and most significant writing,’’ said the trend of libraries catering to the public’s demand for bestsellers is not surprising, especially given the ravages of the recession on public budgets.
Still, Hurley remains confident libraries will never relinquish their responsibility to provide patrons with opportunities to discover literary works of merit, be it the classics or more recent fiction from novelists like Philip Roth, whose work is critically acclaimed and immensely popular....
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