Chronicle: Dennis Dillon on the future of libraries

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Full text of this opinion piece, arguing that libraries/books will be with
us for a long time, is available to subscribers at:  www.chronicle.com

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College Libraries: the Long Goodbye
By DENNIS DILLON (UT Austin)

I was staring at the budget figures, trying to decide how much we could
afford to spend on library books, when a conversation from a couple of
weeks before came to mind.

I had been on the campus running trail when a familiar face appeared
alongside me. It was Bob G., a professor of management. He began chatting
about the university's overall financial situation and asked how the
library was adjusting to recent cuts. Then he asked me whether I thought
that my job would exist 10 years from now.

I gave him a blank look, trying to conceal my irritation.

"Are you still buying books?" he asked.

"Yes, but we're about to run out of space," I conceded.

"I thought you told me a couple of years ago that books were inefficient
-- that books were expensive to buy and store, and that they didn't get
enough use to justify their cost," said Bob.

I have had similar conversations hundreds of times over the years. The
usual sequence of comments is something like: The university has financial
problems, books are expensive, digital information is more efficient, and
therefore we don't need libraries or librarians. I asked Bob if that was
what he meant.

[SNIP]

Dennis Dillon is associate director for research services at the libraries
of the University of Texas at Austin.

copyright 2004 Chronicle of Higher Education