Visioning the Future of the Digital Library

INTRODUCTION There is a young man who comes into the library frequently. He is about thirteen years old, one of the brightest in his school. He works for hours on the computer, surfing the Web or playing Sim City. Sometimes he chats with friends, trading computer secrets. Sometimes he spends hours patiently mentoring younger children on the computer. When this young man grows up, becomes a father, and brings his children into the library, how will the library look and feel? What tools will be available? Will there still be books? Let’s step ahead a generation and imagine our future. Most importantly, the library is still a place; a community gathering place bustling with activity. Children and adults gather to work together, read together, talk with each other, learn both from the resources there and from each other. The library is the community’s center for learning, one that recognizes that individual children have individual unique Iearning styles. Learning takes place in a wide variety of forms. A child can play chess on a computer solo or interactively with another child in Mexico.