[Publib] Re: A further signpost on the road to our oblivion

[Andy Barnett]

Libraries into oblivion? I've been hearing that for the last 20 years and 
really see no signs of it happening.

I do give people zip codes and other easy to find info less often. As for 
the Internet in general, having our catalog on the Internet boosted use 
considerably, especially since we are part of a large shared system and can 
take advantage of the "long tail" phenomenon.

If you think you are in the 'books' or "answer' business, you should 
reflect that you are a librarian and not in any business at all. You are an 
educator and education changes but the need for it doesn't diminish with 
increasing technology.

Go back to the basics, the Report of the Boston Trustees (read it online it 
you must
http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/history/report.html ) and you will see that 
very little has changed. We should be too busy creating our future to wring 
our hands.

Andy Barnett, Asst. Director				www.mcmillanlibrary.org
McMillan Memorial Library
490 East Grand Ave.						715-422-5144 (phone)
Wisconsin Rapids, WI  54494				715-423-2665 (fax)
	
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
      -  Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929 - 1968