The traditional role of the public library is at the very heart of our sea change to digital information. The policy arm of the American Library Association has had to address new Congressional initiatives to alter its role on practically a daily basis. The following are just few of the challenges facing our library system as we know it. As reported on before in the Telecom Post, bill HR2441 is currently making its way through the House. The Federal Depository Library Program is the method through which government information is distributed throughout the country.
Designated libraries receive copies of all government information for local citizen use.
As the government gets more and more familiar with the beauty and low cost of electronic information, it sees the obvious efficiencies of transitioning to digital formats. A recent report to Congress from the Government Printing Office proclaims a lengthy set of high-minded principles and objectives declaring a commitment to insuring the most possible government information exist within the public domain and become available to the citizen on a timely basis. While it's hard to argue with these objectives, an impossible dilemma is being presented to the libaries involved. New equipment is needed to receive, store, and retrieve electronic information. Whole new skill sets must be developed within the staff.