I do not have a crystal ball to predict the future. A quote that I love from Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, is “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. Often, looking back on events and experiences can bring some hindsight, but we cannot change history. We can look forwards and try to create new events and experiences that acknowledge the gains and the losses of the past.

In the context of school libraries, Wade (2005) highlights that the school librarian is no longer a keeper of books that demands a quiet space in the library and occasionally comes into a classroom to talk about their contents. I acknowledge that maintaining a collection that meets the needs of it’s audience and provides resources and evidence for learning is a gain for a school community. However, given what we now know, the idea that learning must occur in utter silence and can only be presented directly from teacher to pupil is a potential loss of the past.

The future of school libraries is directly related to the future of education, the future of learners and the future of content. The challenge for school libraries and school library collections is to remain relevant and future-proof themselves in a world that seems to change faster than the speed of light. Not only is this change swift, it is also dynamic. It was once suggested that students appear as aliens in a library, as students entered the spaces with superior computer literacy skills than the school librarians themselves (Wade, 2005). Perhaps this observation is true, however there has been research to suggest that whilst Generation Y demonstrate confidence in using technology, this does not necessarily translate to intentional, effective and meaningful information-seeking behaviour (Coombes, 2009).

Consequently, I believe the future of school libraries is impossible to predict – and nor do I want to. It is too dependent on the future of other factors. IFLA Trend Report Update reminds us that “the library in itself is an enduring demonstration that expertise and truth exist, matter and are appreciated.” For now, and I may be wrong, but I can only see the relevance of this statement being magnified. In this vain, I hope that school libraries find a way to embed themselves in a school such that they are an irreplaceable piece of the education puzzle.

 

References

Combes, B. (2013). Educating the digital nature of the future. inCite, 34(4), 33-33.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2016). IFLA Trend Report.  http://trends.ifla.org

Wade, C. (2005). The school library: phoenix or dodo bird? Educational Horizons, 8(5), 12-14.