The Utopian Library

Erik Boekesteijn, Jaap van de Geer, and Geert van den Boogaard, Delft Public Library

Program description on the CIL2008 website

All keynotes should be this much fun! Loved the set dressing: armchairs, sofas, breakfast pastries… very comfy!

The video: Shanachietour

• telling stories
• asking people what they like about libraries
• drinking in the sights.
• Question to the “Statue of Liberty” on a New York City street: “What do you see as the future of libraries in 20 years?”
  • Answer: No library in the future. Trust the Internet.

The sofa: CIL2008

• What do we do? What are we good at
• We’re making stories
• Traveling across the country and telling stories in exchange for food and lodging
• Packed up the RV with some equipment and proved that a lot of interesting content can be created in only a short time
• They found wi-fi everywhere. Except Nebraska.

If you have a good idea, you can make it happen. The sky’s the limit.

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.

• Matt Gullett, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
  • books and computers are simply containers for information
  • the choice of container is changing with technology
  • “the book is one of the best technologies ever invented”
  • economic forces will determine the future of the book
  • there are generations of people who still like to hold the pages in their hands; they will continue to do that
  • on the Kindle: unless it’s made waterproof, goofproof, pukeproof… well… other things are yet to be developed that convey culture without electronics
  • how does PLCMC measure the things that don’t show up on circulation stats, gate counts, and cardholder census?
  • • by presenting the creative content developed by their users
    • by telling stories
  • what does telling stories mean for creating new spaces and environments?
    • create open environments that are changeable
    • space helps with setting scenes, but content can be created in many places
    • have plenty of places to plug into!
• Angela, library student
  • her role in the library of the future:
    • to help libraries evolve so that they are still a place where everyone wants to be
    • sustainability
  • the Internet is something we can use to better our position
  • what skills should the future librarian have?
    • the ability to adapt to change (applause!!)
• What will media be in the future and how will people use it?
  • digital
  • everyone will be mobile
  • “library on the run”
  • it’s all about people, how they make and share their stories
  • people are our most important collection
    • if we care for them, keep their stories, share their stories, then we’ve done a great job

The library should be an experience you never forget.

Filed under: CIL2008, conference notes, libraries, library 2.0, multimedia