Palfrey - BiblioTech : why libraries matter more than ever in the age of Google

More Advance Praise for BiblioTech

In BiblioTech, John Palfrey sums up the seminal function libraries have played in inspiring and preserving creative thought over the ages. Then, with confident optimism, Palfrey makes it counterintuitively clear that the digital age has expanded the function and energy level of libraries. In a splintered world, these book-centric institutions have also become singularly safe and welcoming tech havens where the public can seek knowledge and gain access to wide-ranging perspectives about events and circumstances, real and fictional. It is the library where the imagination is un-shackled, where the past and present can be civilly probed and the future contemplated, alone or together in community. As a society we shortchange these civilizing institutions at our peril.

Jim Leach, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Whether you think you know a lot about libraries today and in the futureor feel clueless about both issuesyou will be enlightened by John Palfreys thoughtful, timely, and lucid presentation.

Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

John Palfrey insightfully charts the information revolutions path through the world of libraries, where he has been an innovator. We are indeed at an exciting moment.

Tony Marx, President and CEO of the New York Public Library

BiblioTech is a call to arms to foster democracy by supporting libraries. John Palfrey takes the reader on a library journey from the libraries of antiquity through the Carnegie era and into the digital age and beyond. He challenges all of us to keep the library relevantas an information resource, cultural archive, a community gathering place, and most powerfully, as a cornerstone of democracy for an informed citizenry.

Amy Ryan, President of the Boston Public Library

In BiblioTech, John Palfrey challenges the library and archival communities to pursue new strategies to shape, rather than be shaped by, the digital revolution. This is a call to action for these institutions to reinvent themselves to meet the challenges of tomorrows world. BiblioTech argues for the creation of a new nostalgia, one that reaffirms the essential role of these institutions in a democratic societyto inform, to engage, and to delight.

David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, former Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries

In BiblioTech, John Palfrey offers fresh perspectives and keen insights on the importance of libraries in the digital age. He reaffirms the value of libraries as purveyors of knowledge and information in democracies around the world. Yet, he reminds us that we must leverage our core values and skills as collaborators, networkers, and community builders for libraries to remain relevant. BiblioTech is a call to action for libraries to claim their role as key innovators in learning, addressing digital literacy, and bridging the technology divide in order to thrive in the Age of Google.

Luis Herrera, City Librarian of the San Francisco Public Library

John Palfrey has crafted a bold new vision and compelling argument for the power and value of public libraries. Perhaps more importantly he warns us of the unfortunate future for free societies if we simply stay the course and dont create a new nostalgia for the digital age. Many speeches have been given and books written on the topic of the future library, but this is the finest and most inspiring call to true action Ive read. BiblioTech should be required reading for not only every librarian, but every library supporter and policymaker.

Deborah L. Jacobs, former City Librarian of the Seattle Public Library

BiblioTech is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of libraries. John Palfrey has eloquently identified the essential role libraries play in keeping our democracy strong and has clearly articulated the challenges facing libraries today. This is a true wake-up call. We may very well fail our communities and society if we do not invest in library innovation that supports access and preservation of knowledge at scale.

Susan Hildreth, former Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services

One of Americas top educators and library leaders makes a passionate argument for why libraries in the digital age are more important than ever to our democracy. In a lucid, conversational style that draws on his unique knowledge and experience, digital library pioneer John Palfrey offers a penetrating analysis of how libraries must transition to a digital, collaborative, and networked future while preserving the best of their traditional physical advantages. An urgent, eloquent call for the public optionindeed, the public obligation!to step up and manage this historic shift to the digital future so that every member of society has equal access to knowledge and information that is responsibly presented and preserved for the benefit of all.

Doron Weber, Vice President of Programs and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Copyright 2015 by John Palfrey

Published by Basic Books

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Palfrey, John G. (John Gorham), 1972

BiblioTech : why libraries matter more than ever in the age of Google / John Palfrey.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-465-04060-5 (e-book) 1. Libraries and the Internet. 2. LibrariesSocial aspectsUnited States. 3. Library information networks. 4. Libraries and electronic publishing. 5. Library usersEffect of technological innovations on. 6. LibrariansEffect of technological innovations on. 7. Digital preservation. 8. LibrariesForecasting. I. Title.

Z674.75.I58P38 2015

020.285'4678dc23

2014041874

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Catherine

Contents

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Inscription above the main entrance to the Boston Public Library

IN 1852, JOSHUA Bates wanted to help the city of Boston start the first major public library in the world. Bates, a businessman and civic-minded citizen, had a few conditions in mind. The library, he wrote, ought to be an ornament to the city. It should have a capacious reading room, one that could accommodate 100 to 150 readers at a time. And most important, the library was to be perfectly free to all. If the trustees of this new institution agreed with the conditions set forth in his letter, Bates was happy to provide $50,000 to buy the books.

With the help of Bates and other donors, the Boston Public Library (BPL) became the first library to allow any citizen of a major city in the United States to borrow books and materials. This idea seems obvious today; in 1852 it was radical. Libraries had existed for thousands of years, of course. Early