A recent Slate article speculates that a library without books seems inevitable. College of Charleston Libraries Dean John White respectfully disagrees. He predicts that won’t happen anytime soon – if at all.
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John White, dean of libraries
“I can’t imagine a world where print books aren’t important,” says John White, dean of College of Charleston Libraries. “I also can’t imagine a world without digital resources. I believe the future of libraries hinges on the user’s ability to seamlessly move between digital and print mediums.”
Why Print is Not Dead
White points out that print books are less expensive for libraries to buy, and once purchased, libraries own the books until they literally fall apart. Digital resources are often by subscription, so the subscription terms could change at any point, or the content could be removed.
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“It is still the most efficient way to transfer information from one person to another,” White contends. “In some fields, like history, English, and philosophy, the monographic printed volume is still the most important.”
Plus, the biggest challenge for nearly every library in the country is the inflationary cost of electronic resources. Budget pressures make it more important than ever to find the right balance between print and digital in an academic library.
The Future: Seamless Integration of Digital and Print
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), launched in 2013, is a leading example of bringing print and digital together. It is an online database of publications, documents, photos, and more, put online for the public to access for free.
RELATED: Read about the S.C. Digital Library’s involvement in the DPLA launch.
The Lowcountry Digital Library, housed at the College of Charleston, is one of the fastest growing digital libraries in the region. In the next two years, it is expected to hold nearly 200,000 digitized items in dozens of collections from the College and its partners.
White is envisioning more robust and accessible electronic resources that supplement the print volumes, rather than replacing them. He looks at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library (N.C. State University) as an example, where the bulk of their budget is spent on digital resources and the integration with print. “The last thing we want,” said White, “is a library without books. That would harm the teaching and learning mission of the college.”
In fact, White is already envisioning an incubator space on the first floor of the newly renovated Addlestone Library – a place for exploring teaching and learning technology.
“A library should be an environment dedicated to academia – both online and in the physical building. It is a place where content creation is as important as content consumption.”
