A topic no less ambitious than "The Transformation of the Public Library" in the 21st century provoked far-reaching discussion at a Dec. 8 conference at the Library.
On hand were officials from key institutions working on access to digital information: the Library of Congress, the Coalition for Networked Information, the Council on Library Resources, the Public Library Association, Urban Libraries Council, Libraries for the Future and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Deanna Marcum, president of the Council on Library Resources, noted that to many Americans, their local public library evokes "warm feelings" about a place that is open to everyone with a desire to learn; and "Digital information greatly enhances the possibilities for all groups of users." Addressing the conference's host, Ms. Marcum called the Library of Congress "the ultimate American public library."
James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, welcomed the group and spoke of Americans "who made a difference" in the nation's libraries. It was Andrew Carnegie's "fascination with information" that led him to provide the funds for the establishment of 2,800 free public libraries, Dr. Billington said.
Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (1899-1939), persuaded Congress to increase the Library's budget to build its collections and subsidize the cost of cataloging, which benefits libraries across America and around the world. It "costs more to catalog a book than to buy it," Dr. Billington noted.
"As the first Librarian of Congress who is an expert in a foreign [Russian] culture, I am especially aware of how important and precious our public library system is," he added. "Many believe it is one of the most important features of our democracy."
Dr. Billington then discussed what he saw as four common characteristics and threats to public libraries:
First, according to Dr. Billington, "for democracy to be dynamic, it has to be based on the dynamic use of knowledge." The threat is that with the flood of new technologies has come a "flood of infotainment, which degrades knowledge."
Second, "knowledge must be openly accessible to all people. Today, open access is threatened by the possibility of 'information-haves' and 'have-nots' -- not by a conscious effort to monopolize information, but by the costs of delivering that information," he warned.
Third, the communal nature of public libraries as "temples of pluralism" in America is endangered by "the idea that you can get anything you want from home. The image of a lonely nerd in front of a computer screen is a de-formation of the idea of a gathering place."
Last, Dr. Billington lamented the fact that where once libraries "represented a kind of communal tribute to the values of the book," they are now at risk, due to the pervasive "culture of television, which has, for many, replaced active knowledge gathering, such as reading."
The Library's National Digital Library Program, he said, is designed to stimulate users to go back to books to find information to supplement their online research. The program focuses on nonbooks (manuscripts, prints, old documentary films) because, according to Dr. Billington, these materials "are not easily accessible" because of their fragility and rarity.
"The National Digital Library gives a new boost to the intellectual community. We at the Library of Congress regard you as our partners in this effort."
