The new Interlakes Branch of the Cariboo Regional District library opened to the public on March 7 with an official grand opening on March 24.
Back in 2012, there was an opinion article on Forbes stating “I think it’s pretty clear that libraries are eventually going to fade away.”
A librarian even responded to the opinion piece stating “the real reason libraries will disappear is that people *perceive* them as only or mostly lending books.”
They’re both wrong; libraries won’t disappear.
Just the year before the opinion piece was published, an analysis by Lumos Research Inc. for the Canadian Urban Libraries Council found “per capita number of library usage transactions was up sharply in the past decade, rising 45 per cent from 16.6 to 24.1 transactions on average” and that “the increased revenue needs of libraries, for the most part, have been filled by the municipal level of government.”
According to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center, in person library use had remained fairly stable in the U.S. Furthermore, Millenials (18 to 35 year of age in the study) were both most likely to have visited a library or the library website.
In some places, libraries have filled important niches, such as in Weare, New Hampshire where the library started a newspaper after the local paper closed down.
Here in 100 Mile House, the library regularly hosts a variety of events from children’s programs to genealogy group meetings.
Furthermore, many of the arguments against the future of libraries don’t hold up. While it may be easier to get a book on an eReader or tablet, as far as I’m aware, I’ve yet to meet someone who prefers reading on a tablet or eReader.
My own household is a perfect example here; we have an eReader but it rarely gets used. It’s simply much nicer to read from a real book. As a consequence, my wife checks out books from the library all the time.
The eReader does get used but usually only when a real book is impractical (i.e. when travelling). Even then we often take actual books and occasionally leave them behind (donated), not something a library would be keen on anyway.
Libraries have been around for a long time and by no means has technology made them obsolete. In fact, most libraries have a range of new services while the old services are still of the same critical importance. I’m sure the new Interlakes library will be well used.