Literally. And figuratively.
This is the question I’ll be trying to answer for the next year or so, because this is our library.
Is a library defined purely by just its “stuff” or by the services the staff provides?
The time for thinking a library is just a warehouse has passed. We can deliver services to where our customers are(the classroom), deliver it via the web, deliver it via Skype, deliver it via video, because the library is also the staff IN the library.
So, those of you who aren’t librarians–do you ask your librarian for “stuff” or for services? And if you don’t ask for services, why not?
I’m sure that the next year will bring unexpected challenges and unforeseen opportunities to put in practice some of the web 2.0 / 3.0 tools that you’ve discussed. Can’t think of anyone better for the task.
Our high school library is “stuff” and services, but it’s also a destination. Many teachers bring their classes to the library to start working on their research papers, and they get used to thinking of the librarians as the people who can help them find the stuff they need… as I said to a class of juniors the other day, “You will always need librarians in your life!”