Rebuilding the library

I think that libraries, as in the big buildings with books in them, are becoming slowly irrelevant. Paper books may not disappear overnight, but their days as a primary medium of information are definitely finished, and it's most likely that book-like forms will be almost entierly electronic in the not-too-distant future. More generally, the idea of a library as the gateway to information doesn't really make sense anymore. The internet has largely taken over that role, and does it very well. However, I don't think that means the library should die.

Instead, I'd like to see libraries reborn. Instead of the gateway to information, they could become the gateway to intellectual life. There's currently a lack of casual intellectual spaces, with more serious applications of intellect confined to either professional or academic spaces. That's fine if you want to use your brain to make money or to write papers, but what about if you just want a good place to think, to bounce ideas off others, or to meet people with similar interests?

The first part of this would be to revamp libraries to feature many more work spaces. A lot of university libraries do this, but I haven't seen it as much in public libraries. So desks, chairs, whiteboards etc. Not just areas for quiet study, but for discussion and actual work. In fact, a good goal would be to act as a kind of public equivalent to the private co-working spaces that have become quite popular in recent years. However, to offset the value of getting free work space, you have to commit to give a certain number of hours (say, 1 in 10) to helping others. So you can use the library as a free office, as long as you also let the library use you as a free resource.

The second would be to add a number of social and intellectual events after hours. Talks in the evenings, social gatherings afterwards, that sort of thing. Ideally something would be available every night, but that might not really be feasible at smaller libraries. Regardless, it should be possible to provide a kind of alternative nightlife based on knowledge and discussion rather than dancing or entertainment. Most likely the easiest way to achieve this would be to adopt some existing events like book clubs, poetry events or other meetups and relocate them to the library. Over time, though, as the library forms its own community it might be easier to have more home-grown events.

The point is to rebuild the library as the centre of intellectual life. There's no real need for another place to go to find out about things anymore, but there is a need for a place where you can go to find out what other people think, to have discussions, trade ideas, and find answers to questions you wouldn't have thought to ask.