Libraries and the Future

This work helps librarians look towards what is next for the field.

Posted on July 10, 2017 in Review of the Week

The new librarianship field guide

Lankes, R. David. with contributions from Wendy Newman et al; and guidance from the New Librarianship Collaborative: Kimberly Silk, Wendy Newman, and Lauren Britton MIT, 2016
226p bibl index afp, 9780262529082 $22.00

Lankes, as professor and Dean’s Scholar for New Librarianship (Syracuse Univ.), has been a leading voice in the field of librarianship for many years, providing a compelling vision for the future of libraries, along with practical suggestions for making this vision a reality. In 2011, Lankes published The Atlas of New Librarianship, a seminal work of massive size and scope. He produced this “field guide” as an extension and clarification of the principles laid out in the atlas, providing examples of his ideas at work in the real world. Lankes believes that the mission of librarians is “to improve society by facilitating knowledge creation in their communities.” The author provides numerous examples of librarians doing exactly this, from a librarian allowing patrons to take an active role in assembling a 3D printer in the library, to a library that found creative ways to include homeless patrons as active participants in making the library a better place. In clear, comprehensible language, Lankes provides a thorough, truly useful field guide for those in a position (patrons included) to transform libraries of every size and type and any location.

Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.
Reviewer: J. C. Gottfried, Western Kentucky University
Subject: Reference
Choice Issue: Jan 2017 vol. 54 no. 5

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