FEATURE
Librarians Forever!
by Loretta Gharst
| We have completely changed the process of getting, organizing, and providing access to library materials. |
The rumored death of librarianship caused by the advent of technology has not, and will not, come to pass. In fact, technology has exponentially increased the librarian’s ability to provide library service. The core of library service is organizing, providing access, and guiding others in the use of materials. Material format changes (handwritten scrolls to printed books to ebooks) and methods change, but the core service roles do not. These service roles can be called the organizer, the gatekeeper, and the navigator. Depending on the size of the library, these service roles may be assigned to different departments or job titles. In the Calcasieu Parish Public Library, where I serve as head of Collection & Computing Services, as well as in other libraries, these service roles have traditionally been handled by Technical Services (now Collection Services), Circulation, and Reference (now Information Services).
Maldives Library Association 