How Will Public Libraries Serve an Increasingly Unequal Society?
Let’s Focus on the People Affected by Libraries Rather Than the Collections Contained Within Them
Trying to predict the future of anything—let alone public libraries—is a tricky task. But unequivocally we can say this: Libraries are not about to become purely digital endeavors. The notion that e-books will completely replace physical books is tired.
So rather than dwelling on that topic, which has become a favorite pastime of armchair futurists, let’s focus on the people affected by libraries instead of the collections contained within them. Whether individuals prefer paperbacks or reading on a mobile device is trivial compared to the fact that American society is …
