The balding man looks up from his newspaper, over the rim of a pair of coke-bottle glasses and offers a censure in a gruff voice.
Remember, youre in a library.
Christina de Castell barely misses a beat. Confident and full of enthusiasm, her smile takes on just the tiniest bit of tension as she continues her tour in a normal speaking voice.
Not everybody likes the idea that its not just a quiet space anymore, the young librarian explains, once out of earshot.
As manager of online information and news at the 麻豆传媒映画Public Library, de Castells just had the fifth floor of the central branch redesigned to encourage more conversation in response to public feedback.
People wanted more places to sit and talk. And more plugs, that was a really big thing for them, she says.
The newly minted collaboration zone electrical outlets aplenty isnt the only recent change on the fifth floor. The landscape has also flattened out considerably.
The periodicals that once demanded several rows of towering shelves now fit in four squat units at one end of the room, the result of publications going under or exclusively online, de Castell says. We just dont need the same amount of space as before.
The books? Theyve mostly been relegated to compact shelving toward the back of the room.
To the untrained eye, the state of the fifth floor might lead one to conclude the public library has befallen a fate similar to bookstores in the battle for survival in the digital age.
De Castell is quick to put those fears to rest. The floor is busier than ever since the revamp, proving libraries in the 21st Century are more than just repositories for paper books. But thats nothing new, de Castell argues. Libraries have always been about information and stories. We think of them as being about books, but really, books are just a container.
With those containers changing shape more quickly than they have for centuries and quicker than many patrons can keep track there are big questions ahead for the VPL. Chief among them, how to keep pace with technology while making sure no one is left on the losing side as the war between digital and analogue wages on.
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We need to make sure were not creating a society in which only people like us can read, says Sandra Singh, chief librarian at the VPL. We need to figure out the digital divide.
In her office atop the Coliseum-like central branch, Singh likens the rise in e-readers and digital content to the kind of seismic shift in knowledge conveyance that came with the advent of the printing press. Its exciting, its seminal, she enthuses. But its also increasing pressure on organizations such as libraries to advocate for the reading public, who could find that the door Johannes Gutenberg opened could soon be closed by the legacy of Steve Jobs.
All the free information on the World Wide Web is useless if one doesnt have access to pricey, high-tech platforms, Singh points out.
As everything moves online, its important not to forget that not everyone has a computer, she says, noting use of the librarys in-house machines has gone up in the last few years with the recession.
With e-readers finally gaining traction in the mainstream, Singh says the VPL is attempting to balance the interests of both low- and high-tech readers as well as nervous publishers facing an uncertain future.
Lower-income or less tech-savvy patrons stand to lose access to knowledge they once freely enjoyed if copyrighted work is no longer produced in print, Singh says, adding some publishers are reticent to sell e-book licences to libraries at all. This could be the first time in our history when someone cant freely walk into a library, pull a book off the shelf, not need any money and read it, Singh says.
The library does offer 12,000 e-book titles in its catalogue, but Singh doesnt see the VPL lending out e-readers themselves anytime soon. If you have trouble trying to decide whether to shell out for a Kindle, a Kobo or an iPad, just try making that decision for two million users.
Theres lots to figure out. I mean, well do it but you have to remember that this is an industry thats seen one format change in 400 years and that was paperback.
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While the VPL may be waiting for the publishing industry to plot its next move, its definitely not dragging its heels on improving the myriad other ways in which it serves the city.
Starting in November, the library will conduct an extensive public consultation campaign to find out what patrons want from the public library beyond 2012.
Online manager de Castell says its clear from the response to the revamped fifth floor that users are looking for the library to be something quite a bit more versatile than a strictly silent zone to sit in quiet contemplation though there are those who still think of it that way.
With physical books taking up less space in the future, she anticipates more demand for technology training, interactive programming and public gathering places something she says is in short supply as apartment sizes shrink in 麻豆传媒映画and the city densifies.
We have to make choices in the library about whether we go in the direction of museums or we go in the direction of community centres. For me, the direction that offers us more opportunity is the direction of community centres.
Upstairs in Special Collections, however, the museum model might seem more appropriate. But librarian Kate Russell argues that maintaining a link to Vancouvers past through her departments collection of more than 250,000 historical photographs of the Pacific Northwest, vintage maps of 麻豆传媒映画in its infancy and countless other trinkets, isnt a static and stale exercise.
Museums these days are very dynamic and interactive, she offers. Providing access to relics of British Columbias local history is as critical a piece of the VPLs mandate as is leading the way into the future. Theres a growing need because 麻豆传媒映画is a young city and has been looking forward, the Edinburgh native says in a slight Scottish brogue. But now its like we are a bit more rooted, we have a wee bit of history.
And technology and history need not be at odds. Russells team has been working diligently since about 2000 to digitize the prized possessions in Special Collections climate-controlled vault among them glass-plate photo negatives, British Columbia sessional papers and even a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible. Since putting many of its historical materials online, Russell says shes seen more people come in-person to check out the oft-overlooked section.
The upcoming public consultation process will, its hoped, raise the profile of the resources available in her department, says Russell, confident that there will always be a place for physical documents and published work at the public library.
But whatever the direction the public chooses for the future of the VPL, de Castell, Singh and Russell agree the most important thing is to keep giving the public free access to ideas, arguments and differing perspectives, no matter the form they may take in the coming years.
Theres this idea that the library is the peoples university, says de Castell. Its the place that anyone can access learning for free and we need to keep focused on that.
Reimgaining Your Library kicks off in November to solicit public input on four main topics: public places and learning spaces; the future of library collections; learning and experiencing culture; preparing kids and youth to succeed. Dates and times to be posted soon at VPL.ca.
