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Home  Program on America's Libraries in the 21st Century
Program on America's Libraries in the 21st Century
Overview
The fundamental changes that underlie how much information is now created, modified, disseminated, and accessed enable many opportunities and challenges for libraries and public access to information. The Program on America’s Libraries in the 21st Century focuses on monitoring and evaluating trends in technology and society to assist the library community in shaping its future to the maximal benefit of the Nation.
In which roles may libraries be most useful in serving the Nation? Physical library spaces continue to have value for communities, though their roles are evolving. The explosion in online information enables users to access many non-library information sources readily, but the online environment also affords tremendous opportunity for libraries to serve existing clients in new ways and to reach out to new clients. How should the LIS community’s core principles of equal access, intellectual freedom, and objective stewardship of information be represented in the future online environment?
Major Areas of Focus
- Monitor technological and societal trends that are relevant to libraries and public access to information and encourage and contribute to discussions about these trends in forums inside and outside of ALA.
- Identify relevant data sources for these relevant trends and strive to improve the usefulness and visibility of these data.
- Advocate for appropriate policies and practices based on those trends that have identifiable, direct implications for the library community.
- Identify scenarios, models, and specific directions in technology and society that have the most promise for advancing the interests of the LIS community.
- Engage the LIS community to develop appropriate visions, strategies, positions, and messages.
- Assist the LIS community in taking a greater leadership role in shaping its future in the digital world.
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