By the end of each visit the visitor leaves with mostly positive results and some surprises. A visit to the library of the future will similar. Turning to the information explosion and the digital future, note that the paperless office predicted in 1980 is nowhere to be found. Thanks to desktop publishing, people producemore and more newsletters, brochures and posters. Publishing companies go through recursive cycles of consolidation and buy-out while producing more and more books.
New publishers go into business.
No one is seriously predicting the demise of books. Libraries will continue to obtain, store and provide them. However, libraries of the Twenty First Century may have right on the shelf proportionately fewer of the books and other materials sought by patrons. The library's forte will be access rather than possession. While keeping their own copies of commonly-requested materials, libraries will participate in small and large consortia of shared resources.