The demise of school libraries

The Demise of the Library School: Personal Reflections on Professional Education in the Modern Corporate University.

By: Geoffrey Blakeley

This may seem a bit off topic, but I feel that it is relevant to us since we are going into the profession. The article I found was on the dissection of a book that talked about the eventual demise of the education of library work. While to topic of this post is supposed to be about how school libraries are having difficulty functioning and what may lead to their eventual demise. What could be a factor in the demise of school libraries is the lack of education for people to work in the library. This about it, if you can't find a a way to learn how a library functions academically, then who's gonna take over when the previous staff need replacing.

I said earlier that the article I found was a dissection of the this book, it talked about while the concerns are valid it is a bit over-inflammatory. "Cox does a very solid job of making the reader think about the ramifications of decisions related to increased enrollments, distance education, curricular changes, and the culture of grants. And his points would be useful for anyone involved in library and information education to reflect on." (page 234)

"However, the author’s clear desire for library education as a more halcyon pursuit of intellectual growth truly does not fit the current reality, and it frankly never has been a part of library education of the past. Library education is different from what it was in the past, as are the universities and the students and the societies that the universities serve. A core part of the ebullience of libraries is their ability to evolve to be what patrons and communities need at different times. To remain relevant, library education must similarly evolve. Technology plays a much greater role in library education than it did in the past, but this too is a necessity. Computer and Internet access and training are among the services that bring most people to libraries at this point, and this has been the case for more than a decade.4 Failing to prepare future librarians for this reality would be a far swifter path to irrelevance than any of the changes that have accompanied the development of the iSchool." (234)

This is all a very long way of saying that the author, Richard J. Cox, raises concerns about the future of libraries that we should be aware of, his solutions are a bit off. In order for libraries to remain relevant and postpone our demise in schools, we need adapt to the changing world. A great way counteract this is to start in the education portion. While we can train people on the job how to use specialized equipment, like 3D printers and microfilm readers, we should have education focused on the basics and advanced programs and systems that people use on a regular basis. So we can be more effective in helping people.    

Jaeger, Paul T.. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 82.2 (2012): 232–234. Web...
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/664581?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.amazon.com/The-Demise-Library-School-Professional/dp/1936117185