You have to be hiding in a cave to not know that the world of education and libraries is changing very quickly. That said, trying to imagine exactly what schools and libraries will be like in ten years can be tough. The Mind Shift Blog published recently a list of 21 things that will disappear from education in the next ten years.

While libraries as a whole are not schools, they are directly related to the education field and academic libraries are of course impacted even more. As a librarian at a two-year college, we are being asked right now to create our vision for the next ten years and then to extend that to what we believe the college classroom will look like in ten years.

As I look over this list, I’m not sure I agree with all the things on the list but it is interesting to say the least.

There are however five that really stood out to me, especially in the context of libraries and college libraries in particular.

Computers- Obviously as the list says, this is really a trick one since we all now that computers will not really disappear but rather desktop computers will disappear and be replaced by mobile computers such as the ipad. For libraries that could mean that we either no longer have computers, or that we have ipads or similar mobile computers, or maybe we just expect that we provide internet access and resources and our patrons bring their own mobile devices? What do you think?

Wikipedia- or the fear of Wikipedia- I just had to laugh when I read this one. As a librarian I remember learning in library school four years ago that Wikipedia is bad. I also know that most college professors will not allow their students to use it as a resource. That said Wikipedia is getting better and I can see some valid uses for it.

Paperbacks- Will paperback books really disappear? Recently Amazon announced that they are selling more kindle books than paperbacks so it’s true that the trend towards ebooks is increasing but I find it hard to imagine paperback books being totally gone.

Paper- Regardless of our best efforts and focusing on recycling and other technology, I know we still sure use a lot of paper in my library. I would guess that this is still true for most other libraries as well. The article suggests that we will rarely if ever use paper in 10 years. I can see cutting back, but will we really not use paper? What about all the posters, signs and brochures not to mention business cards and other paper items we use? Will they really be totally gone? I don’t know about that.

Comments? What do you think will disappear from education and from libraries in the next 10 years?

IT Departments

What will the library of the future be like? We have been challenged at my library to write up a document and give a presentation on this and I believe that this is being done in more libraries than ever.

So here is an alphabet soup (with a few letters missing) on my thoughts on it.

Archival- Although many libraries do this now in the future it will be even more prevalent as electronic resources, materials and processes increase.

Bibliographic resources- although we do this now in the future it will become more complicated as more and more formats of materials become available.

Collaborative- In the future libraries will collaborate a lot more with outside enmities such as bookstores, schools, businesses and other organizations.

Digital- We are starting to see this trend now and it will only continue. Libraries of the future will house many materials that are born digital as well as continue to play an important role in digitizing paper records for digital retrieval.

Electronic- whether its eBooks, e-texts or other materials. The library of the future will become more and more electronic.

Flexible spaces-as physical materials decrease and the library becomes more of a community space, the library of the future will need to be flexible with their spaces.

Gaming- many libraries are offering games now but in the future games will be used even more to teach library literacy and other skills.

Handheld- libraries of the future will have to get used to and embrace handheld devices, programs and hand sized electronic gadgets of all types and sizes.

Iphones, ipads and i? In the future it will be assumed that libraries can support and offer materials and trainings on these devices.

Leadership- in the future libraries will be more expected to lead the way and to help others predict the future.

Metadata- although used now an understanding of how it works and how to use it will be even more important in the library of the future.

Notes, in the future even more note taking devices as well as notes and summaries of materials will be available and libraries will need to use them and support them.

On demand- even though this is starting to be used in some libraries, the library of the future will be able to access books and other materials on demand in even greater prevalence.

Portable- the library of the future will become increasingly portable as smart phones and other devices making taking the library with you more practical and possible.

Readers- whether it’s the Kindle, Nook, Ipad or some other device, in the future everyone or nearly everyone will have one and libraries will need to adapt their formats, collections and services to suit these.

Smaller- gone will be the days of large libraries full of millions of books. Instead with the increase in portability and electronic resources, archives will house the millions of copies of many print materials while your standard library will be smaller in terms of physical space.

Technology- even though it is crucial in libraries now, in the future librarians will need to be even more technology minded and aware.

United- the library of the future will need to be even more unified and different departments and types of libraries will need to work more together.

Virtual- the library of the future will see an increase in the popularity of virtual reference and other online services.

What other thoughts do you have about libraries of the future?