Reading Glasses - Fan Group discussion

I don't know if this is the right place for this discussion, but I think it would be interesting to give it a shot.

A few years ago I did my architectural thesis work on the (rather pretentious) Library of the Future.
I was trying to look at how the function of the library as a physical building would change with rising digitization of books.

I personally think that while paper books will never be phased out, they will become a more niche, specialty item. In this scenario, the library becomes more of an access point and a community center type deal.

I know we have a community of mixed e-readers and paper readers here, so I would be really interested to see what your collective take is on this. So. What do you think a library will be in the future?

I feel like I also heard somewhere that libraries will transition more into community centers and I can definitely see this happen. Group meetings can be held in conference rooms, there's supporting literature and computer access for whatever they may be meeting about, and it's also free. They're located in generally central locations.
I definitely agree that paper books will stand the test of time. But libraries are now offering the ability to "rent" e-books which I think is pretty neat. There's a little something for everyone. I can't remember the last time I saw a community center that wasn't really for an older and retired generation. I've seen more recreation centers than anything.

The role of libraries is definitely changing. I'm a public librarian, and what I do at work in 2017 is way different than what librarians did decades ago. Right now we lend books, which is what most people associate with libraries, but we also have DVD and electronic collections. Something like 95% of public libraries lend out ebooks. And most public libraries offer tons of different programs for kids, teens, and adults. Many of those programs have to do with technology, like computer classes for seniors or coding programs for kids. Libraries are also one of the last places where you can just go and hang out and not have to pay or buy anything (like in a coffee shop). I often joke that as long as people want free stuff, libraries will still be around.

As for the physical space of the library re: the rise of ebooks, I don't think that an increase in popularity of ebooks necessarily means that the popularity of print books has decreased. People use both print books and ebooks for different purposes. Check out this Pew Research report from 2016 on book reading. Only 6% of Americans are digital-only book consumers, which leaves 94% of people who read print books at least some of the time.

In my experience, reference books like encyclopedias, dictionaries and atlases are being withdrawn from library collections just because most of the information is now readily available online. But fiction and nonfiction will remain on the shelves simply because so many people still read print books. I'm not sure what the future has in store, but I don't see print books going out of fashion anytime soon.

Hello! Librarian here! I work in an academic library currently and wanted to bring up the point that not everything is digitized, nor will it be anytime soon. Public and academic libraries are both certainly moving towards providing space for people rather than books and other resources. However, even in the digital age, not everything can be found online, or is freely available online. Libraries play the important role of providing free access to information that has been digitized that would be ridiculously expensive for an individual (think databases that are behind paywalls). Also, librarians and information professionals are needed to properly digitize and index sources that are slowly becoming available online. So in that sense, libraries aren't going anywhere!
As an aside, I have noticed that public libraries are doing more programs and offering more services (example: the rise in makerspaces in public libraries to promote the use of libraries for space), whereas academic libraries are simply making more study spaces for their students and leave it at that. I suppose this comes down to the different needs of their patrons; college students use of a library space is going to be different than a community member's.