Are Libraries an Endangered Species?

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm an ominvorous reader. So it's probably not surprising that I think free public libraries are among our greatest inventions -- giving everyone the opportunity to learn by sharing resources none of us could ever afford, collect or store individually.

I've got my five year old son hooked on reading too and I've really enjoyed exploring the stacks with him. I remember the first time I showed him the adult section on dinosaurs and he was astounded so many books could exist about his favorite subject. Libraries are a fantatisc environment to help foster curiosity and a love for learning.

All this has made me very interested in how libraries are faring as the world becomes more and more digital.

Some recent changes -- such as recent federal rules requiring libraries to provide reading lists to law enforcement officials (while keeping those requests secret from patrons) concern me because of their Big Brother aspect. Others, such as the requirement to filter Internet access, concern me less because many people have alternate ways to access the Internet.

But, what if technology itself started making libraries ability to loan out materials technically impossible or illegal?

A great resource is theshiftedlibrarian.com.

Here's a recent post. The last two sentences are pretty scary (bolding added to highlight). Would we really be that short-sighted?

Chipping Away at Fair Use

If legislators were forced to vote today for the "right of first sale" of digital files, which is the exemption that has traditionally allowed libraries to circulate physical materials, I wonder how many of them would blindly sign it away without a second thought to libraries. If public libraries didn't already exist, would we be able to start them in this day and age? My guess is no.