Even from the confines of my new 65-gallon tank, I know it's a changing world we live in. How do I know? Look at my species, the turtle. Turtles who haven't gotten the memo on these changing times of ours -- for example, those dopes who don't realize that highways (you know, those things with the speeding cars ready to run us over) are not the same clean, peaceful, foresty habitats of 100 years ago -- well, those fools are becoming an endangered species. Do libraries want the same thing to happen to them?
It's like the one guy says, libraries need to realize they no longer have "monopoly power in information marketplace." People have all sorts of ways to access information now. Information is everywhere. Why should we go to the library to get it? It's no longer about what libraries "have" or "own," man. With the new technology that connects us to information around the world, everyone can "have" information. No one "owns" it anymore. Knowledge moves, it circulates, it's shared. And we're the ones moving it, circulating it, and sharing it. It's not just libraries that do that. Not just published authors. We're no longer passive recipients of knowledge that stays static in books, and libraries that continue to treat us that way will become as endangered as my friends, the leatherback turtles, who still haven't learned to stay away from the motorboats and jerks with nets.
So, you heard it from Rocky, until libraries start swimming in my direction a little bit -- adapting to my needs and maybe throwing me a few floaties along the way if I need some guidance -- they'll start sinking ... and fast!
