Business

Librarians Rock. Well, Anyway, They Disco.

As you can probably imagine, we get some pretty interesting stuff tossed our way over the wired.com transom. Most, as you can probably imagine, end up on the virtual spike. But when librarians make a music video to prove their relevance in the age of Google and e-books, well, we sit up and take notice. […]

As you can probably imagine, we get some pretty interesting stuff tossed our way over the wired.com transom. Most, as you can probably imagine, end up on the virtual spike.

But when librarians make a music video to prove their relevance in the age of Google and e-books, well, we sit up and take notice.

For the record, we love libraries as much as the technological advances which now put libraries in your pocket. They are havens, sanctuaries, community centers and places where helpful people who are almost certainly smarter than you hang out just to help you. : No batteries are required for books need. They don't need connectivity or special equipment to operate them.

I'm a little biased ... my aunt was Chief of the Reference Section at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations – the head librarian to the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Way before there was an internet she ran a small team of brilliant people who had to be able to answer anything and everything on a moment's notice to help preserve world peace during the height of the Cold War. Think Desk Set by way of Fail Safe by way of Mr. Spock.

Reading a book, free for the asking, is an immensely civilizing aspect of life that we can't afford to abandon in our rush to improve things. And, make no mistake, digitization does improve things, by decreasing the friction of acquiring a book and the overall cost of readership. I know I read books more since I acquired an iPad.

For what it's worth, I don't think libraries will ever be irrelevant, though they will probably have to continue to reinvent themselves, like everyone else in media. As Barnes & Noble does with its Nook, libraries may grant (rather, be allowed to grant) proximity access to e-books. Someday, when publishers are confident they can protect themselves against rampant piracy, libraries could become e-lending centers, hosting book clubs and read-alongs for anyone with an e-reader – lenders of e-readers themselves.

Librarians may not become your town's amateur thespian company (no disrespect intended to the talent and production values in the above video), but let's hear it for the Rappahannock Regional Library in Virginia for carrying the flag.

The music video starts at about the 6:00 mark, and an abbreviated version of just that portion is here.

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