Reading Report "The Future of Libraries"

This article encompasses a vision of what libraries may become in the future. The author believes that libraries as a whole will change and evolve into a much more complex entity that will be a center-piece to societies and cultures. He lays out a list of “trends” that describe why he believes these changes will come, much sooner than most realize. Of the many trends one he discusses focuses on verbalization. The author refers to a Dr William Crossman who believes that by 2050 literacy as a whole will be dead. In this the reference to keyboards is made as well, saying that keyboards will no longer be of use because of verbal interaction. Libraries will be of much importance, according to the author, because in the future a global society will exists, where all of Earth uses one standard system for things such as money, measurement, and ethics. Also, these “future” libraries will become more appealing because they will be more in depth and broader, including things such as studios and possibly parks.

I believe that this is a very interesting article because of the insights of the author and the people he discusses. While most of what is discussed is very intriguing, it’s hard to believe that some of the things discussed will come to being in such a swift manner. One that really caught my attention was the argument that literacy will cease to exist. I believe that people need the visual aspects of words on paper to aid and help them learn and excel in daily life. Also the argument that keyboards will no longer exists is a very controversial subject in deeper thought. While the idea does seem plausible, it is hard to imagine life today without the use of keyboards.