With books being converted into bits and bytes, what will happen to the libraries? This is the question that has been in my mind for quite some time now. The last time I went to the library was a few weeks ago, to select books as references for Computer Science. However, this is only because the funds for books are available and cannot be used for other things, except buy books.

Today, I rarely go to the library for books. All information that I need are available online — more updated than the books in the library. When a book gets published, specially when it is technical/scientific, the moment it goes to press, the information is outdated already. Take a few more months for it to arrive in the country, and by the time it gets to the library, the information is already stale. There are exceptions to this, of course, but generally, the information is old.

The library is evolving, too. Libraries subscribe to electronic journals and this, I think, is the only thing worth going to the library for. However, with journal subscriptions being university wide, one can access the journals via any computer connected to the university network — so what is the point of having a library then? Maybe it will evolve into an internet cafe, where students and faculty can search, download and print journal articles whilst sipping a cup of espresso. Frankly, if my university library becomes something like this, I will be a frequent visitor. However, at the moment, I do not see the need to go to the library. [and yes, I know that not everyone has a computer but it will not take long before each student gets hold of an affordable netbook]

Electronic books, electronic textbooks, audiobooks and other digitized materials can easily be stored in the cloud. So, if this is the future, what will be in the library except for the old and rare books collection?

Anyway, I like to hear from you — let me know what you think will the library look like in the future.

Image courtesy of blisspix@Flickr