I'm often surprised and delighted by what I find on Twitter. And today was no exception when I saw that Chris Brogan posted to his blog a reflection on, of all things, libraries and more pointedly, how they are evolving.
Brogan, a social media expert who is genuinely a social media expert, is coauthor with Julien Smith of the best-selling book Trust Agents.
Here's what he had to say:
"I dropped off three copies of Trust Agents to my local library today, and realized a few changes since I’d last gone in (a few months or so). They’d added free wifi. They’d taken most of the new release fiction and nonfiction and stuffed it in an off-center room to make room for their ever expanding collection of feature length DVDs.
That’s right: my library has become Blockbuster.
But no, not really, and let’s not malign this, because my library is adapting to what its patrons are demanding, and they evidently want newly released movies about the mafia and aliens and anything starring Nicholas Cage or Jim Carrey. And this gets us thinking about what a library’s mission REALLY is today..."
Brogan, a social media expert who is genuinely a social media expert, is coauthor with Julien Smith of the best-selling book Trust Agents.
Here's what he had to say:
"I dropped off three copies of Trust Agents to my local library today, and realized a few changes since I’d last gone in (a few months or so). They’d added free wifi. They’d taken most of the new release fiction and nonfiction and stuffed it in an off-center room to make room for their ever expanding collection of feature length DVDs.
That’s right: my library has become Blockbuster.
But no, not really, and let’s not malign this, because my library is adapting to what its patrons are demanding, and they evidently want newly released movies about the mafia and aliens and anything starring Nicholas Cage or Jim Carrey. And this gets us thinking about what a library’s mission REALLY is today..."
Do read the rest of his post.
But the upshot is that he's welcoming a dialog here:
What do libraries really stand for today? Who do they serve? How should they evolve? What are your thoughts?
Brogan is addressing public libraries, but who's to say the conversation couldn't itself evolve or relate to other library services, as in K-12, let's say. Or maybe social media and libraries? Ebooks and what's ahead for readers?
At the Summit, we talked about the need to engage the greater audience and getting out the message about what you do. Now seems like a good opportunity.
- Kathy Ishizuka (@kishizuka)
Photo of Chris Brogan by CC Chapman
But the upshot is that he's welcoming a dialog here:
What do libraries really stand for today? Who do they serve? How should they evolve? What are your thoughts?
Brogan is addressing public libraries, but who's to say the conversation couldn't itself evolve or relate to other library services, as in K-12, let's say. Or maybe social media and libraries? Ebooks and what's ahead for readers?
At the Summit, we talked about the need to engage the greater audience and getting out the message about what you do. Now seems like a good opportunity.
- Kathy Ishizuka (@kishizuka)
Photo of Chris Brogan by CC Chapman
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