Seems like lots of people are asking pertinent questions, offering substantive ideas and productively advocating on behalf of patrons and users … well … everyone except librarians and the ALA/PLA, that is.
| Sept 4 | Cushing Academy’s school administrator replaced books in his school’s library with computers and 495 readers commented on the news article on the Boston Globe website. |
| Sept 30 | This radical patron publishes specific ideas for library funding and program development in In The Library with the Lead Pipe blog. |
| Oct 20 | Publishing consultant Joe Esposito reports on growing consensus for an e-content strategy to bypass libraries in The Scholarly Kitchen blog. |
| Nov 1 | Information consultant Tom Peters puts forth a library strategy in Library Journal entitled The Future of Reading: As the book changes form, the library must champion its own power base – readers. |
| Nov 3rd | University professor Scott McLeod publishes 10 questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools on his blog Dangerously Irrelevant. |
| Nov 6 | Author James Patterson advocates for libraries at a national conference for school librarians. “It’s time for librarians to start making a lot more noise,” Patterson told the packed crowd. “School libraries are not a luxury, they are a necessity.” Additionally, Patterson and a team of publishing consultants launch a new literacy website, ReadKiddoRead that beats library sites hands-down for content, discoverability and advocacy messaging. |
| Nov 7 | The Anchorage Daily News frames library issues very well and asks “Who Are Libraries For?” |
| Nov 12 | Carl Grant, President of ExLibris publicly echoes a question raised at an Educause conference: “Who knows what the library means anymore?“ |
