Library 2.0 for L&P

I've been fascinated by what computers and technology can do for libraries since I started work back in the mid-1980's, when I dragged my Brother WP into work to use instead of that stupid electric typewriter. Am I embracing Lib 2.0? I did, and am incredibly excited that our library system has recognized the necessity. M. Stephen's statement of making the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience is just so right, and that we should be trendspotters "reading outside the profession and watching for the impact of technology on users and new thinking on business." Right on, brother! (Preaching to the choir) People in the library profession have for so long held the belief that it was we, really, who knew what people needed. It was difficult for so many librarians to switch to the "give'em what they want" idea in the early 90's, and many are probably reviling the need to move so quickly into the future and respond so quickly to what we anticipate our customers will use. It's a good time for those librarians to retire, and tell stories of the good ol' days. We know that those old fashioned libraries had to change, that we had to really redefine our concept of what a library is. Funding problems emphasized that. A library is not just a building with a collection of books, or other media. It is simply (or not) a concept of the exploration and access to human knowledge and information. The easier it is to access and spread knowledge, the better we've done our job.