By Michael Falcone
Daily Bruin Contributor
In her 30 years as a librarian, Sarah Long has witnessed major
changes in the evolution of the library, from the Dewey decimal
system to the digital revolution.
As the current President of the American Library Association,
Long not only seeks to promote and sustain American libraries, she
also said she wants to change the stereotypical image of
librarians.
“The word librarian has baggage ““ it sounds too
old-fashioned,” Long said.
“People don’t realize that there’s more to it
than just checking out books,” she added.
Long gave a presentation in Royce Hall Wednesday about the
future of libraries, specifically addressing the question:
“Will we need libraries in the 21st century?”
It’s a question that Long said she has been hearing from
people for quite a while.
With electronic texts now easily and publicly accessible on the
Internet, and with the increasing popularization and affordability
of E-Books, handheld devices similar to PalmPilots which can hold
thousands of digital pages at a time, some have begun to wonder
whether libraries are becoming things of the past.
But Long said that libraries aren’t on their way out, they
just need to focus more on changing with the times.
“We have been too focused on the library and the book, and
we haven’t been as willing as we could have been to work on
community projects,” Long said.
Howard Besser, an an associate professor in the UCLA Department
of Information Studies, who was at Wednesday’s presentation,
said libraries are experiencing the side effects of the Internet
and the growth of the Web, but the human factor remains
important.
“The support network for libraries has been undermined,
which means that there is less money for libraries,” Besser
said.
“It seems clear that the role of the librarian as an
intermediary is eroding, but I don’t think it will totally go
away,” he added.
Besser said that librarians, who have traditionally helped
library users navigate the labyrinth of book shelves, will
increasingly be called upon to help them navigate the Internet and
be judges of the quality of digital information.
Long and others are convinced that the traditional library and
the Internet can have a more symbiotic rather than adversarial
relationship.
“I believe that we are the answer to the digital
divide,” she said.
Long said that 80 percent of America’s public libraries
have access to the Internet, and that is an advantage in
communities where not everyone has computers in their home.
Long also mentioned libraries have roots in the local
communities they serve, but are often overlooked by local
government officials who control funding of libraries.
“Twice now I’ve been the director of a library that
was poor,” she said.
In order to secure money for those libraries, Long hired
political pollsters to test themes on voters to see what people
would respond to when library finance measures were put on the
ballot in those communities.
Wednesday’s event was sponsored by the California Center
for the Book, an organization based at the UCLA Department of
Information Studies. One of the primary goals of the center, which
has 12 partner libraries around the state ““ from Shasta
County to San Diego ““ is to improve literacy levels in
California.
“Part of our mission is engendering a love of reading and
of books,” said Natalie Cole the Center’s assistant
director.
The Center hosts video conferences featuring prominent authors
which are beamed to libraries around the state, and is also working
with the Santa Monica Public Library and restaurant guru Wolfgang
Puck to build the world’s largest edible book, an event that
Cole hopes will help promote the center.
Long, who’s term as ALA president ends in June, said she
will continue to promote a pro-library message, and target it
especially toward students.
“We need to get young people involved in librarianship
before they make their career choices,” Long said.
She cited a recent Time magazine article that listed the
“10 hottest jobs of 21st century,” among them were data
miner and knowledge manager. But Long said those jobs might be
better described by another name.
“I’m writing a letter to Time magazine ““ call
them librarians.”