Would we build them?

Would we build them?

by clairetuminello89
Parkes (2010) poses the question: “If libraries didn’t exist, would we build them today?”
Libraries of the past were the beacons of knowledge, the keepers and preservers of the books. In current times, information and knowledge are easily and freely accessible most of the time, largely thanks to the dawn of the technological age. Physical resources still exist. They are still highly relevant and have a place in society just as digital resources do.
But libraries provide something that no online environment can (at the moment). A human, face-to-face interaction that can lead the horse to water, and allow the patron a physical experience with a book (or other physical resource). Whilst online environments can still provide a vast range of high-quality and engaging resources, they cannot replace the personal relationship or interaction that you can have with a librarian, nor can they offer the physical experience of turning a paper page and the feel of a book. Perhaps I’m nostalgic or a bit of a romantic, but this experience contributes to my love of books and reading.
It is based on this that I think libraries would still be built today. Perhaps smaller, perhaps differently, perhaps to include more technological advancement – but still, they would be built.

Now, that statement is a hypothetical situation that doesn’t exist because we do have libraries. They were built, and they still are built. The ways in which we arrange the libraries to encourage active participation in reading behaviours are being studied. In particular, the organisation of the fiction collection has been scrutinised. Where once these collections have simply been organised according to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), a quantitative system in which the fiction section is the least specifically organised, now libraries are seeking to depart from the DDC system and move towards classifying this section by genre to make books that may be of interest to the user easier to find. Whilst genrefication can be challenging to roll out, especially given how many genres there are, reclassifying the library’s fiction collection by genre gives students more ownership of the fiction collection and allows them to find materials that genuinely interest them (Moeller & Becnel, 2019).

As TL’s, it is our professional responsibility to encourage students and the whole school community to engage in and enjoy reading. Let’s make it easier, not harder, for our young people to get excited about reading and empower them to choose their fiction based on what they’re interests are.

References

Moeller, R. A. & Becnel, Kim E.  (2019). Why on earth would we not genrefy the books? A study of reader interest classification in school libraries. Knowledge organization, 46(3), 199-208.

Parkes, D. (2010). Web 2.0 and libraries: Impacts, technologies and trends.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *