Look-a-likes

Walk into any library in the United States, you will see shelves filled with books, perhaps a few study tables for people to do work at, computers perhaps scattered around the library or in an individual room, a circulation desk a reference desk, etc. So how can I know this? Am I so well traveled that I have visited every library in the United States? No, truth is libraries are built and organized very similarly. Yes, there are differences, one has a coffee shop while another does not, but on the whole libraries all look a like. Honestly I didn't even think this was true until it was pointed out to me in IST 511. At first I was like, they are not always the same. And then I stopped and thought and reviewed all the libraries I had gone to and behold they are very very similar.

In class we discussed that libraries are similar because they were built after the model developed in the 1800s. thus, you get the typical stereotype of what libraries have to look like. In some ways it does not make sense to keep a model from the 1800s. If libraries and patrons of libraries have changed so much, why shouldn't the way the library is designed be changed too? Why doesn't a library look like what is in their community. For example, if the community has a lot of people interested in wood carving then why can't the library have a room and material set aside for people to practice wood carving. That may seem like a silly example, but the point is there. You don't see libraries differentiating too much. Sometimes they do, for example, a library with a large family population may have a whole room dedicated to children so that there is space for children's activities, books and games. Yet, even this is relatively common. So why aren't libraries changing their view?

I think that this mostly comes down to what people assume libraries look like. Children read books, see pictures and visit libraries that all look the same. They grow up to expect that libraries will look a certain way. They know a building is a library if they walk in and see lots of bookshelves and a check out desk. Libraries don't want to change for fear of making their patrons uncomfortable because a different looking library is "not a library." I'm not saying people won't change and that we don't have to start somewhere, I just think there is a very strong stereotype of what libraries look like and people tend to feel more comfortable with what they know. Yet, that can change. Look at the concept of putting coffee shops in libraries. People were dead set against it because "that is not what a library looks like", but now go to many libraries around the country and you will see coffee.

I think libraries should be encouraged to design themselves around the communities needs. And I think, slowly, as librarianship is changing, so will the design of libraries. So the question is, what might libraries look like in the future?