Traditionally
a quiet place for lovers of books to unwind, libraries are a place for serious students
to escape to, a treasure trove for aspiring writers – and even a great hiding
place from bullies where a kid can find cover among a labyrinth of shelves.
They always have been a refuge.
These
days libraries are becoming something more than a place to hide out. Only
recently did libraries become a bustling resource center for a growing number
of jobless. People seeking work and budget-strained families seeking
entertainment are now flocking to libraries as never before. That’s the good
news.
The
not-so-good news: The modern day Carnegies are in short supply because
libraries are busting at their well-worn seams.
So
what happened? Only yesterday, the tech elite were fervently forecasting the
imminent doom of the library. Their contention: Libraries will become
irrelevant in a modern world?
Predictors
of doom never understood the true nature of libraries. They are more than a
stack of books. The remarkable structures and modest converted buildings that
are libraries, these institutions are really living, breathing organisms. Much
like plants that flourish in fertile soil, water and sunshine, libraries are
thriving in an information-rich environment. The newfound popularity will be
more than a short-term inconvenience. Libraries are here to stay.
Over
the past few years I have visited hundreds of libraries and spoken to many
library groups across the country. Common throughout my travels, I have
witnessed a vibrant and dynamic relationship between users and available
resources. Libraries are moving forward and new roles are emerging. In one of
these roles, I witnessed the catalytic connection between people, many in
poverty, and their aspirations for the future.
Relevancy
is key. Response to needs of constituents is the measure of a good library.
Much like Google’s approach to calculating the relevancy of search results to
individual search queries, a vibrant library continually assesses offerings and
functions and their relevancy to the community.
While
declining budgets may scale back expansive thinking, significant change,
nevertheless, is on the way.
Atoms
vs. Electrons
Although
we never think of it this way, there is a war being waged between “atoms” and
“electrons.” The world of electrons, which includes all things digital and
virtual, is moving exponentially faster than anything that requires
manipulating physical materials (atoms).
Products
made of wood, plastic, metal, and stone constantly battle for limited
resources. The physical world beyond the flowing electrons translating this
document and making it readable on your monitor is intensely digital. Sure, the
materials make our interaction with digital possible. But, when studied through
the lens of bottom-line business executives, atoms are on the losing end.
Physical
products require teams of designers and engineers to create and refine them.
They require shipping and storing at warehouses. Legions of marketers work on
matching supply with demand.
Digital
products, on the other hand, place very little strain on natural resources.
Missing, too, are shipping containers, warehouses and armies of sales people.
While
they may still require designers and programmers to produce a product or
service, digital products are invented, created, manipulated and delivered
10,000 times faster than anything requiring the handling of atoms. Needless to
say, the electrons are winning the war.
We
can see the shifting of talent and jobs happening all around us as people move
to where the rich veins of digital opportunities are being mined.
In
this battle for commercial superiority, libraries stand alongside
knowledge-based industries such as IT, communications, information and
web-based services, which are poised to lead our economic recovery.
Diminishing
Value of Print
In
medieval times, books were valuable possessions far too expensive for most
people to own. Libraries that were enjoyed by the non-peasant class were often
nothing more than a collection of raised reading tables with hand-crafted books
chained to them.
In
1455, Johann Gutenberg unveiled his printing press to the world by printing
copies of the Gutenberg Bible. Later Gutenberg had his printing press
repossessed by Johann Fust, the man who had financed his work over the previous
10 years. The sons of Johann Fust were largely responsible for a printing
revolution that saw over 500,000 books put into circulation before 1500.
Gutenberg
and his printing press were largely responsible for taking books out of the
hands of the wealthy elite and placing them within reach of common people.
During
the past five centuries, the price of books dropped another order of magnitude
with mass production presses turning out efficiently spun collections
accessible to virtually everyone.
Today,
a new level of disruption is knocking down the door of book publishing – the
electronic book reader. The Amazon Kindle introduction on November 19, 2007,
was greeted with a collective yawn. Too expensive, too large and not well
received by critics, it was a flop. However, on February 9, 2009, Amazon
introduced the Kindle 2 to a far more receptive marketplace. Still expensive,
the product reborn in a sleek and convenient case would bear an interface many
are bragging about. And there is now a waiting lust for people wanting one.
Making
a somewhat quieter entrance, the Sony Digital Reader and the iRex Iliad came
along with different options. Introduction of these products has bolstered the
belief that book readers will soon rival print.
That
day is coming far quicker than most imagine. This transformation won’t take
place over the 500 years it took technology to get to this point. Within five
years, book readers will drop to a price around $20 and find their way to that
magical status marketers call ubiquitous. Libraries will begin to make the
transition to book readers. As we move to an era of inexpensive book readers,
we will begin to see libraries loaning out book readers instead of paper books.
Within
10 years the economics will drop out of the publishing industry, and books as we
know them-ink on paper-will soon begin to disappear. Bibliophilism, the love
and collection.
Electronic Outpost – Libraries
without Books
Even before the mass popularity of
book readers, libraries will experiment with a version of the digital library
I’ve termed the Electronic Outpost. Traditional books require vast amounts of
library staff time, with sorting and organizing often coupled with repairs and
replacement. So it begs the question, what would a library without books look
like?
Think of an Electronic Outpost as a
type of library that is designed to inspire the mind, serve as a place for
intellectual spontaneity, a safe haven for creative ideas, where visionary
thinkers can go for solitude and support. Sometimes they will serve as the
branch of an existing public library, other times as a specialty library in
support of specific groups or organizations. Size, shape, and purpose will
vary.
Some may fit well in shopping
centers while others may be better suited to function as stand-alone buildings.
A few may be very small, others quite large. Many will be planned with a homey,
living room-like feel to them, while others will go with a more eclectic
atmosphere to inspire industry-specific thoughts. Electronic Outposts will
evolve over time around the core services most relevant to a particular user
group.
As communities begin to experiment,
the Electronic Outpost will evolve to serve a different role than that of a
traditional branch library.
The
Emerging Library-Business Relationship
Several
major shifts are happening in business, and this will cause a change in the way
business will be conducted in the future. Libraries need to pay close attention
to these shifts because they signal new frontiers in both opportunity and
constituency.
1.)
Employment costs are rising. Because of overhead costs associated with hiring
people, more and more businesses will work with teams gathered on a
project-to-project contract basis.
2.)
With the tools available on the Internet, far more power and control is being
placed into the hands of the individual.
3.)
Fewer businesses require people to physically move to accept a job.
Consequently, shifting positions frequently is far less disruptive.
The
trend I see is business moving toward a much more organic style of operation
where available talent will form around specific projects, and once completed,
will disband and form around the next opportunity.
Libraries
and information services will become central to the Empire of One style of
business and Business Colonies, which I discuss below, will begin to spring up
around the country.
Empire
of One
The
traditional solo business is a one-person practice, most often a professional
service well suited for lawyers, accountants, and doctors. However, a new breed
of solo business has emerged that allows people to leverage the power of the
Internet and control a vast empire from their home office or wherever they
happen to be. Across the world, thousands of people are giving birth to what I
call an “Empire of One.”
An
Empire of One business is a one-person operation (though, sometimes a married
couple) with far reaching spheres of influence. Typically the business
out-sources everything – information products marketed and sold online, or
products manufactured in China or India, sent to a distribution center in the
US, with customers in the UK and Brazil. Manufacturing, marketing, bookkeeping,
accounting, legal needs, and operations are all outsourced to other businesses
around the world.
In
addition to product based businesses, other Empire of One models will include
coaching and consulting businesses, freelancers, Internet-based businesses,
solo practitioners and much more.
Yes,
much of this has been done before, but a person’s ability to leverage talent
and products across country lines, and still maintain control of a vast and
virtual empire is refreshingly new.
The Empire of One business model is one with great appeal to former corporate executives with global contacts and ability to manage far-flung operations remotely.
The Empire of One business model is one with great appeal to former corporate executives with global contacts and ability to manage far-flung operations remotely.
Over
80 percent of all new startups will be created by this kind of lifestyle entrepreneur
– people who’ve gone into business to take more control over their own lives
and to build a lifestyle that suits them. Health and happiness have replaced
wealth as the new mantra of the mid-life professional. Fifty-seven percent of
the work force now insists they will not take on the extra stress associated
with greater responsibility even if it means more money.
Once
economies improve, middle-age workers searching for meaning and significance in
their lives will cause an exponential increase in this type of business in the
years ahead.
Business
Colonies
Business
will become more fluid with talent and projects converging for short periods of
time. In the way the movie industry works, where a single movie project will
attract camera people, script writers, lighting and sound people, actors, and
makeup artists, the Empire of One will attract various skills for temporary
assignment. Once the project is complete, team members will disband and form
around other projects.
One-person
operations involve numerous challenges that not all individuals are equipped to
handle. As a support mechanism for their growing numbers, business colonies
will begin to form around such diverse industrial sectors as photonics,
nanotech, biotech, IT niches and many more.
Often
times the colonies will form to support large corporate players in a specific
industry. As an example, companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo could
easily spawn gamer colonies as a way to drive the development of new games for
their consoles.
Over
the next few years, experimental colonies will proliferate, testing a variety
of operational and support systems. Individual members of the colonies will be
drawn to the prospects of steady project flow. Project leads will be attracted
to the available talent pools. And host cities will be most interested in
generating jobs and employment for their constituencies.
Libraries
are a natural partner for business colonies. The need for information services,
research assistance, as well as meeting place and work space will form the
foundational underpinnings for the library-business colony relationship.
Tools
of Production
In
his 2006 book The Long Tail, WIRED Magazine Editor Chris Anderson asserted,
“When the tools of production are available to everyone, everyone becomes a
producer.”
People
are no longer satisfied with information flowing one way. They want to
participate in it, add their own contributions, and claim a stake.
To
accomplish this, libraries need to expand their technical offerings, make
themselves tools of production. These tools will allow visitors to transition
from readers to writers, from listeners to composers, from television watchers
to television producers.
We
are in the midst of a new age of experimentation for libraries. While funding
may fall short, the outlook could not be brighter for a library full of the
creative idea-people who will reshape commerce and business. Here are some
examples of new library functions:
- Podcast Studios: Audio capture and audio editing stations will enable beginners to create podcasts and post them online.
- Video Studios: The video version of podcasting with video capture and video editing stations. These studios will create their own center of gravity, attracting a wide spectrum of creative people who hope to bring their ideas come to life.
- Virtual World Stations: With over 400 companies competing in the area of virtual worlds such as Second Life, these emerging alternate realities are where future business will be conducted.
- Gamer Stations: Even though elitists think of games as parasites sucking the life out of our children’s brains, much learning happens inside these games, and it is a cultural phenomenon that needs to be nurtured.
- Search Command Center: People who come to libraries are searching for information. Sometimes it’s an exploratory mission with only vague notions about what they are looking for, at other times patrons have a laser-like precision in their search for specific data points. But invariably they will need help, and the Search Command Center is intended to be a central feature for a visitor’s first-contact.
- Mini-Theater: With the huge amount of effort being directed toward video today, and kids as young as 5-years old as well as great-great grandparents learning how to shoot and edit videos, the missing piece is often a room large enough for a small group to view the final production. Mini-theaters will quickly become a social gathering center with demand growing to fill the available time slots.
- Cyber Cafe: Many of the visitors will be largely focused on finding an open terminal and getting onto the Internet. This is an opportunity. Libraries may want to adopt the look and feel of a casual, yet artsy, cyber-cafe. With this design, people will be looking for the perfect balance between privacy and inclusion, efficiency and randomness, and purpose and spontaneity. Coffee kiosks and food services, either operating as in-house library services or as adjacent businesses annexed to the library, can serve to complement the casual atmosphere.
- Daycare Facilities: Libraries tend to have a unique symbiotic relationship with daycare centers. Because of the strict rules governing daycare operations, pay-for-service daycares are best housed off premises with separate staff and management. However, by leveraging library resources and aligning them with the needs of the community, a daycare facility can provide a win-win service to fit the needs of many library users.
Aligning
service with need is key. Supporters don’t hesitate to fund things they find
important. How do you increase the relevancy of the library service offering?
The
ultimate “library of the future” for your community is a home of highly
relevant informational experiences, where great ideas are born, and people find
tools and facilities to act on their ideas.
By
Thomas Frey
