Do People Need Libraries in the Digital Age?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”—T.S. Eliot, “The Rock” (1934)

Back when I was in college, I was elected librarian of the Harvard Lampoon in a contest that seemed unusually tight despite the fact that I think my run was uncontested. The undergraduate humor magazine is housed in a mock Flemish castle that dates back to 1909, and I was supposed to find funny books to stock the Lampy library, a quirky, circular chamber with a secret sliding bookshelf that opened up to a hidden room.

Libraries, for me, have always been portals to unexpected places, but in the coming years some of them could become casualties of the internet age. Much of this will be a topic of discussion at The Public Library Association’s (PLA) biennial Conference, set to be held next month in Indianapolis. Public school libraries are enduring budget cuts and staffing reductions. According to a Pew survey released in 2013, 54% of Americans ages 16 and older had personally used a library or library website in the past 12 months, down from 59 % the previous year. The American Library Association (ALA) reports that the use of library materials has increased in recent years, but recent numbers indicate that physical visits have dipped slightly.

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