The increasing amount of information and number of information networks are staggering. In the February issue of Wired magazine, Barry Diller of QVC, Inc., talks about the huge amount of information that confronts and often confounds us. Librarians can provide us with the necessary roadmaps for the information superhighway. People are scared of this much information. Someone has to guide them past their fears.
Libraries can become coordinators and leaders of community technology initiatives.
Libraries are already taking on this role in several communities around the country. They are doing so by taking advantage of existing alliances between the library community and federal, state, and local governments, as well as forging new alliances with schools, hospitals, community centers, the local cable company, broadcasting companies, computer companies, and others in the community. It requires at least a 50 percent matching grant. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Public Library is leading the effort to develop a public information and communications network. They are setting up 74 public access terminals, located in libraries, neighborhood and senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, and health care facilities.