The document discusses the future role and services of public libraries. It argues that libraries will expand beyond traditional collections to take on new roles like providing maker spaces, virtual reality studios, gaming areas, and equipment for circulating items like drones, robots and internet of things devices. Libraries will also archive more community information and serve as innovation hubs where people can learn new skills. Complex search capabilities will let people search in new ways using attributes like smell, taste and touch. Overall, the document envisions libraries becoming vibrant community centers that foster creativity, learning and collaboration.
For World Water Day 2024, we promote the vital link between water and peace.
Portsmouth public library evening presentation
1. Future of Libraries:
Engines of their
Communities
Portsmouth Public Library Presentation
November 15, 2016
Stephen Abram, MLS
Federation of Ontario Public Libraries
Lighthouse Consulting Inc.
7. Dead Wrong Thinking
Public libraries are growing, doing better than ever.
The Internet and digital world is an opportunity that libraries excel on
riding this mechanical bull!
9. 21st Century Vital Literacies
Critical 21st century skills, all agree on four critical areas for development:
Collaboration and teamwork
Creativity and imagination
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Flexibility and adaptability
Global and cultural awareness
Information literacy
Leadership
Civic literacy and citizenship
Oral and written communication skills
Social responsibility and ethics
Technology literacy
Initiative
Literacy:
Reading literacy
Print literacy
Computer literacy
Web literacy
Device literacy
Tool literacy
Information literacy
Cognitive literacy
Credulity
10. “Information literacy is a crucial skill in
the pursuit of knowledge. It involves
recognizing when information is needed
and being able to efficiently locate,
accurately evaluate, effectively use, and
clearly communicate information in
various formats.”
Wesleyan University
11. Proven Public Library Impact
The Public Library value proposition is strong and includes (but
isn’t limited to):
Excellent Return on Investment
Strong Economic Development
Great Employment Support
Welcoming New Americans
Provable Early Literacy Development
Ongoing Support for Formal Education and Homework Help
Serve the whole community equitably
Affordable access to community resources
Access to Government Services and e-government
Questions Deserve Quality Answers
Support Cultural Vitality
Recognized and Valued Leisure Activities for the majority
12. Current Proofs on Having an Impact (just
a selection)
Fiction and Empathy
School Readiness
College Readiness
Social Isolation
Different Abilities
Economic Impact
Entrepreneurs
Lifelong learning, adult education, e-learning
Access of all kinds – leveling the playing field
13. “How will we describe the nature of
libraries in the future? Should they be:
Baby friendly
Pet friendly
Food friendly
Beer, wine, and alcohol friendly
Event friendly
Party friendly (should they provide a list of approved catering companies)
Homeless friendly
Privacy advocate friendly
Business friendly
Casual user friendly
14. Should they have facilities for:
Traveling museum exhibits
Private meetings
Aerobic reading
Taking a shower
Preparing and serving food
Taking a nap
Storing personal items
Sending money or making payments
15. Traditional Information Archive – Over the years libraries
have expanded their collections. Certainly not all are large
enough to manage every item on this list, but most have a
majority of them.
Print books
Digital books
Audio books
Newspapers
Magazines
Music
Movies
TV shows
Radio broadcasts
Presentations
Courseware
Audio materials (discs, tapes, talking
books and other recorded formats)
Maps
Microforms
Videos (film, television broadcasts,
DVDs)
Sheet music
Photographs, posters, prints, and
drawings
Apps and mobile apps
Social media archives
Artwork
17. Non-Traditional Archives
Libraries also have an obligation to archive their local communities. Some of the non-
traditional archives may include:
1. History of every business in region.
2. Overview of every graduating class in every school.
3. History of local infrastructure including bridges, tunnels, waterlines, sewer
lines, fire stations, water towers, police stations, schools, etc.
4. Aging of the community done through sequential photo queues.
5. The sound of the city in the form of audio recordings over the years.
6. Cultural influence timelines.
7. Local archive for emergency equipment such as emergency generators when the
power does down, or emergency lighting, emergency cots, etc.
8. Record of every law, ordinance, and regulation affecting every member of the
community
18. Search Command Centers
Most people entering a library are searching for something. Over the coming years search technology will become
increasing complicated, but at the same time we will have far more capabilities to use in our search.
Video Search – When it comes to video search, we still struggle with attributes like context, style, circumstances, and a
variety of situational details. Examples of future video searches may include:
9. Bring up every public video of Jane Doe (average person) between 1980 and 2005 when she was in Manchester,
England.
10. What are the top 20 most watched videos of an audience laughing at someone who is in the process of dying
from a fatal accident?
11. Show me the top 10 Twitch tournament videos of Korean players playing Destiny version 4.3.
12. What are the 12 common features of low grossing movies produced by Paramount Pictures in 1978?
Drone Search – It may seem unlikely today that libraries will have their own fleets of drones to deploy for physical
search inquiries, but that will change over the coming decades.
13. Using thermo scans, what houses in my city have the least amount of insulation in the attic?
14. Where is the hole in the fence that is allowing livestock to enter the Eagle Ridge Neighborhood and cause
damage?
15. Which areas in my city are least likely to get flooded when the river overflows its banks?
16. Give me a 360-degree views of the three major sculptures erected in my city last year?
Demographic Search – The demographics of the world is changing and we need better tools for monitoring it.
17. Show me a heatmap of the world, broken down by 1 square mile regions, showing highest to lowest birthrates
18. What regions of the world are most like Winnipeg, Canada (pick any city) based on climate, age demographics,
political views, education levels, scientific interests, personal health, etc.
19. Who is the most knowledgeable person in the world on acidic soil types?
20. Show me a decade-by-decade breakdown of increasing average incomes in Africa since 1900.
19. Complex Searches
Over time search engines will deploy a combination of techniques for
finding the answer to complex questions.
21. Interactive map of the world highlighting regions currently at 10
degrees Celsius?
22. What world leaders are currently in NYC?
23. Interactive map of butterfly migrations in Panama?
24. What movie has Harrison Ford wearing a blue sweater while
chewing gum?
25. Why is this object (hold up an object) important?
26. How famous am I compared to other people in my community?
27. Timeline Search – How have recipes for bread changed over the
past 300 years?
28. Who else in the world has a disease like mine?
20. Future searches
As we enter the age of quantum computing, far more search attributes
will become quantifiable. Someday soon we will be able to search for:
29. Smells
30. Tastes
31. Harmonic vibrations
32. Reflectivity
33. Specific gravity
34. Chemical composition
35. Textures
36. Viscosity
21. Fussy search features
37. Looks like
38. Smells like
39. Feels like
40. Tastes like
41. Sounds like
42. Absorbs like
43. Echoes like
44. Coats like
22. Spherical Displays
Spherical displays in the future will have the ability to give an accurate
perspective of planet earth.
45. Track pollution flows across the ocean in real-time
46. Monitor major hurricanes from satellites and track new developments on a
minute by minute basis
47. Book a complex travel itinerary from a spherical perspective
48. Show how warm water currents have changed over the past two decades.
23. Maker Spaces
Libraries are rapidly transitioning from a place for passive visitors who
consume information to active participants who would much rather produce
it. Areas to include:
49. Potters wheel and workshop for mixing the mud and making pottery.
50. Growing vegetables using aquaponics.
51. Video studio for both shooting and editing a video.
52. A production area for both recording and editing a virtual reality
experience
53. IoT workbenches complete with Internet of Things help desk
54. Access to 3D scanners and printers capable of printing items out of
several hundred different materials.
55. Laser cutters for etching/cutting wood, glass, metal, and ceramic.
56. Jewelry making stations
24. Creative Spaces
These types of spaces will come complete with all the tools, technologies,
and supplies for creative people to get creative.
57. Produce art
58. Produce music
59. Produce games
60. Produce podcasts
61. Produce webcasts
62. Produce VR experiences
63. Host IoT workshops
64. Create & print with 3D printers
25. Mini theaters
It’s important for groups have a place to gather for such things as:
65. Watching movies
66. Playing video games
67. Watch live events such as concerts, sporting events, NASA landings, etc.
68. Watch YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and more
26. Live webcast studios
While we no longer need a studio for doing live webcasts, the age of the
studio is far from over.
69. Book reviews
70. Game reviews
71. App reviews
72. Course review
73. Chatbot review
74. Tech reviews
75. 50 years ago today
76. “How to” accomplish something
27. 3D Printing
As the process of additive manufacturing improves, it will begin to enter all of
our lives in unusual ways:
77. 3D printer lending
78. 3D scanner lending
79. 3D printer workshops
80. 3D scanner workshops
81. 3D design competitions
82. 3D printer-scanner help desks
28. Flying Drones
In much the way kids that lived a century ago wanted to learn how to fly, young
people today are enamored with flying and driving drones.
83. Drone lending
84. Flying drone flight simulators
85. DYI drone workshops
86. Drone competitions
29. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is already in existence and already knows far more about
you than any person alive today. Will future libraries offer:
87. AI lending
88. AI workshops
89. AI competitions
90. Monitor and anticipate visitor usage
30. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Both will become far more pervasive in the future.
91. VR & AR hardware lending
92. VR & AR software lending
93. VR & AR production studios
94. VR & AR search engines
31. Robotics
Robots will become far more common in the future.
95. Robot lending
96. Robot rodeos
97. Robot workshops
98. Robot competitions
McMaster University’s Hitchbot
32. Internet of Things
As more of our devices join the connected world we will see an increase in
demand for:
99. IoT device lending
100. IoT prototyping workshops
101. IoT competitions
102. IoT expert speaker sessions
33. Equipment Archive
Most people have old forms of information on disks, cartridges, stick
drives, and tapes, and many are looking for a place to convert it to a new
medium that people today can access.
103. Read and print microfiche
104. Both read and convert 8”, 5.25”, and 3.5” disks to the cloud
105. Convert photos to video
106. Convert from VHS to DVD
107. Digitize and repair old photos and documents
108. Old gaming consoles to play programs and games on cartridges,
apps, stick drives, and CDs
34. Global Library Projects
109. VR chat rooms with people in other counties
110. Cross cultural lending programs (i.e. books written in Japanese, not
translated, about Ben Franklin)
35. Video and Non-Video Games
Games are quickly becoming the cultural norm for most young people today.
111. Game tournaments
112. Game lending
113. Game builder workshops
114. Game expert events
36. New Facilities
Most major libraries will be testing out a host of new options to make their
facilities relevant for next generation users.
115. Mini Planetariums
116. Robotic storytelling centers
117. VR dating stations
118. Time capsule room
119. Drone lending program
120. Pet lending program
121. Expert events – meet the experts
122. Community archives – let the community decide