Thing 15: Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries

Library 2.0 is indeed many things to many people. To me personally it is a way to create content and manage information. Professionally it offers the opportunity to meet patrons where they are (wherever they are) and find ways for them to interface with technology.

I was a late bloomer in the profession of librarianship. I taught middle school language arts for 17 years, and if you had asked me even a few years before I began grad school for my MLIS, I would not have had any desire to be a librarian. I loved to teach research and I loved using technology, but I had no desire to coral that love into the work of a school librarian—until technology became a bigger player in my district and kids were able to create work on a grander technological scale. My district was forward thinking and had a wonderful technology program that grew and built upon itself and allowed and encouraged teachers and students to use it to its fullest extent. It was during this growth period that I decided to become a librarian.

I am now beginning a new phase of my library life at two elementary schools where technology is often relegated (sadly) to state testing tutorials in the lab. The librarians in the district are saddened by this reality, but I know they want to make a way for the kids to use that technology for more than drill-and-kill…I hope that together we can find a way to help kids create content, share their insights, and become a part of library 2.0 and web 2.0

When we do this, I believe we will begin to meet the goals Michael Stephens talks about in his post Into a New World of Librarianship when he writes, “One of the principles I would add to the Library 2.0 meme is that “the Library is human” because it makes the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience. Librarian 2.0, then, is the “strategy guide” for helping users find information, gather knowledge and create content.”