Library of the Future

Pickering is considering its future in preparation for our new service plan.
Unlike our previous plans, we are taking a longer term perspective and trying to imagine the future role of the library in 2025.

Some aspects of our future are quite easy to imagine - the future community of Pickering will be more diverse, greener, and will reflect the boom and echo demographics - more seniors, their thirty something kids with their children.

Some aspects of future libraries are harder to predict: Will Kindle and iPad replace print books?   Will connectivity and hardware be affordable for all?  Will the majority of digital content remain largely free of cost?  What will power our technology?

While many things will change in future libraries, I believe that the fundamental values of libraries will endure.  We exist to enrich and inspire the lives of ALL of our residents, bridging people, ideas and cultures with openness and respect.

Take a look at these videos from Aarhus Public Library to see a public library that enriches, inspires, and connects the community in ways that moves beyond books and incorporates new technologies.  Is this a model for the future Pickering Library?

The Enduring Importance of Books!

According to a recent article*, children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents' education, occupation, and class. This is as great an advantage as having university educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father.

"A book-oriented home environment endows children with tools that are directly useful in learning at school; vocabulary, information, comprehension skills, imagination, broad horizons of history and geography, familiarity with good writing, understanding of the importance of evidence in argument, and many others."

Public Libraries provide a constant supply of books and other enriching materials into the homes of all children regardless of income. If you know of a family who are not taking advantage of the wonderful resources available in the Library please share this information.

*Evans, M.D.R. et al. Family scholarly culture and education success. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility (2010)

Audiobooks: Not just for commuters!

I have developed a real fondness for audiobooks over the last year.

Doubtless, they are great for commuters, but they are also wonderful to listen to while doing crafts, household chores, or just doing nothing. Last summer, I spent many a happy hour in my backyard lounge chair listening to "The Help" isolated from the sounds of lawn mowers and central vacuum motors.

I am impressed by the quality of the readings - the voices and accents can be quite compelling. The peppy Southern waitress Sookie Stackhouse and the rich Botswana accent of Mma Ramotswe add an interesting texture to the story. Malcolm Gladwell's popular books, Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers are even more engaging when read by the author.

Until the Library started subscribing to online audiobook services (Overdrive and iTunes) , I was spending quite a lot of money on this new habit. Occasionally, I will have to place a hold and wait for a bestselling audiobook (I am 16th in line for Dear John on Overdrive!), but the overall savings is substantial.

Happy Listening!