In the 21st century, library needs to follow technology trends as communities will adapt to it. As mentioned by Carroll & Reynolds (2014), today’s public library need to redefine its role and function, build its online services and redesign the physical space. The evolution of libraries in terms of delivery of services, access mode roles and spaces are influenced by the trends and development in technology, social change in communities, clients needs and behaviour (Laerkes & Manolis, 2013). Furthermore, in terms of library services, according to Burton (2019), in the last 5 years, libraries have shifted their focus from providing traditional library services that focuses on physical collection to a modern library which is dominated by digital services (89 %), study spaces (80%) and then computer areas (53 %).
To face this evolution, library staff need to be equipped with ICT skills, as Hallam (2014) found, based on Our future, our skills surveys, library staff are expected to be equipped with ICT skills as 44% of the library staff role is to assist customers in ICT related matters, and 63% indicate the need to prepare library staff with ICT skills to face future technology challenges. The need to acquire ICT skills also has been stated by ALIA (2014), that the distinction of Librarian and Library technician would not be as important as it used to be as everyone needs to be proficient in IT as technology will be part of their job on a daily basis.
Today’s librarian and information professionals are not expected just to have one universal set of core competencies but they are expected to pose a diverse skills set to provide library services to the diverse needs of communities and patrons (Dodd, 2019). This evolution of library and user expectations has created challenges such as skills gap issue, as mentioned by Burton (2019), based on a survey conducted by CB Resourcing, the skills gap issue is divided into 4 categories such as data analysis (83%), ICT/technology (79%), Communication (72%), and project management skills (71%). Apart from non-traditional skills, there are library traditional skills that are important and relevant such as people management, liaison skills, information literacy, education/training skills, cataloguing and classification skills (Burton, 2019). In Addition to that, collaboration and data sharing between information professionals is also important to learn the success or failures from each other, and to explore/share ideas for innovation (Chun, 2018). Overall, today’s librarian need to be agile, through ongoing training, development and support, library staff will keep their skills current and relevant, they will also be ready to face challenges in the ever-changing technologies (ALIA, 2014).
References
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). (2014). Future of the library and information science profession. Available from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy/ALIA-Future-of-the-Profession-ALL.pdf
Burton, S. (2019). Future skills for the LIS profession. Online Searcher, 43(2), 42-45.
Carroll, M., & Reynolds, S. (2014). “There and back again”: Reimagining the public library for the twenty-first century. Library Trends, 62(3), 581-595. doi:10.1353/lib.2014.0003
Chun, T. (2018). “Brave before perfect”: A new approach for future-ready librarians. Teacher Librarian, 45(5), 35-37.
Dodd, J. (2019). Competency or capacity: Measuring librarians’ potential for success. Journal of Library Administration, 59(6), 684-692. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1080/01930826.2019.1626648
Laerkes, J., & Manolis, P. (2013). Building libraries for tomorrow: INELI cohort 1 collaborative project report. Available from http://www.grlc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/Board-Report-Attachment4-Sept-16-2013.pdf
Hallam, G. (2014). Victorian public libraries: Our future, our skills: Research report. Retrieved from QUT ePrints.