The Continuing Importance of Place in Library Service

Is there a "potential downgrading of the value of place in library service"? Richard McKay, of San Jacinto College thinks so, and shares his perspective on the continuing importance of place in this essay in University Business magazine:

Once a trip to the library is no longer a necessity, it is a simple extrapolation in the minds of some to the idea that the library itself may also no longer be necessary, or if it is still necessary, it may have to change what many think of as its traditional service philosophy to retain its value for current, let alone future, users. In fact, this change is already happening, and it affects everyone who uses the library, not just the patrons that have been saved from a library visit by off-site computer access. In order for as many users as possible to experience this change as an improvement in service, planners need to consider the distractions that the change implies, and design inviting study spaces that reduce or even eliminate them. Campus planners will disregard library users' need for quiet space at the risk of impairing an invaluable part of library service.