The Library of Tomorrow A Symposium * EDITED BY EMILY MILLER DANTON 1939 AMERICAN L1BRARY ASSOCIATION cHicaco, 1LLINoIsLooking Forward, a Fantasy BY FREDERICK P. KEPPEL ‘Wt an earn deemninstion to acquire some ideas abut the library of tomorrow I ven othe Waldo Asteria Hotel on» day in Jue when T knew dat beans bythe thousand were to be found thee. ‘As it caroed ou] il ge some ides, bu nt fom a ibaa. 1k was fren my fend Alvin Johnson, ofthe New School for snd report upon dhe ‘Sane andhe was now ance again. the lala gp of eat ne year in his library ates. Ashe was teling ia oe fogs ans apr ofthe changes be observed navies tnd Tiberian my grant ought crn o wondering how i would be fone could look twenty-one ers bead, insead of rwenr-one years back: rey son they had cojued up a mytial dlgute {othe very ALLA. conestion, o bear the historic name of Rip ‘Van Winkle—or, on ond thought, Rippin Van Wiskle— kept fated to return fom the convention tery spent by it sults andi fig, nd llowing the family precedent, {ofalliata seep of arate profundity and duration, What would Rippias Van Winkle thoroughly refrehed afer ‘his good log ap fd of profesional interes in 958? To begin :The Liraryof Tomorrow vith I doube if she would beable wo ecopsize the pblcHirary bndng were she to wake up ina towa thst made ay pretensions to uptodstenes. Ste would find 0 impaing fad, 0 Greek Columns or Gothic towers and no dors ump the outward and ‘sblesgn of th book wack, On the onthe bulding would be more like a compact factory and ies trot would lok He 2 sal aning platform, which i presly what t would be. weve, on being are that the mrange arte was relly the towa rary, abe would ener it and be more stoibed than ‘ere To eg with he would already hae paued trough double oor forthe libeary woald be sircondioned, bth for temper: ture and for humidity and, incidental, t would be niecond ‘ine aswell The ight of havea would ave fl play, with no ‘columns © eit tof noe Gothic muons wo ers i pus. ‘Arti ipht a needed would be of kind icero unkown to ber. There would be no great rating rom, but in is place an steorument of smaller chambers, some of them Hned with books, toberur but more of them looking a i they bad eyed frm seme whol diferent ype of insicaton. On, or exam, might ave come from a musa of cence and industry, with aay of models of various Kinds. Several others abvouly might have ‘ame fom 3 piso chemin laboratory, and tl ees fom {musa conterator or theater rat moscum. Among thse at ter one rom would have weil equipment for seretcpy and for polarization to retore the third dimension to xeaperal and arciteaural material. The oom fr platings would have thee Color sites and analyzers. Perhaps the moat aonising of all ‘woul be dhe pace Boos for the eadents ofthe dans, with po tographicecaeding appara for compaizon odious or ceri. Backsage scenes would sxm at leat at srange atthe public rooms for though the young asinants tobe found there would be fray thy rl ote ting yd lene card, or ang them, but would be tending machines thick appre performed thee and other funcone athe turn of 2 Looking Forward, A Fantasy 4 lia. Ia fac, rasianhip would seem to Rippin wo be largely ‘4 eting of eal. There woul be no pages but instead dlc tolled containers woul be running the erands ofthe ibrary—a ld reminiscent ofthe serially dred torpedo fold. The le barias hee and there might be earing on thee share of ‘log dance wird omminee meng (for Haran would tullbe strong on commie!) er might be conversing with 3 ve oy Hiteaing wo recor o even reading a book ‘Were Miss Van Winkle speak ono ve bu the youngtert who were of ecaiy taking al hese matters for granted ving Known no other world ten ould ber vi ee in confion ‘wor: confounded I onthe ther hand she were fortunate enough ‘fli conversation witha contemporary, someone ol nog to have been a liaran in the far-off days of 957, one who ad stuck oer job and nee the changes at they tok place, ne by ‘ng then peshap to some depres hings night be wrghened ot. ‘After aburage of queton y the vitor, which gu towhere, be ‘use the answer were of acces unimelgble, the old and would ell alt es according to my maxing would eiver a breads amen aloog the ie: The beginnings of mt of thee things which now case you ‘oosternaton were to he sen back in 3937, ot everywhere of aur, but here and Une, We needed new conception of the Iieary and the librarian, however, beloe me eold proach the owls of thir devdopment. We Knew thea tha he ieary ‘was repository of corde of what human beings had earned and thought and dreamed ba we armed that these record mut be printed records Evea in 957 we were begining to ak ounces hy the read mos avays be in print, and we were begianag to cheat line with epreducions of pictures and phonograph ecards Now, of ure everyone koows that the form of he ‘rd makes no dierence whatever I jut ikl to ade he 3The Library of Tomorrow car athe eye andi just as kyo be eed on ico charged trea on paper. The problem of wletingaoa-rinen records for (ur shelves ijt a ard ob the elecion of books, but when ‘weave made up our iad o get any particle record we have ‘Be equipment a make ic avalble othe publi. And do' forget, jmear there at lion and ediians of ook, 0 there ae records of dierent performances of musi and dams, color phosogranhe ‘of diferent pings taken under diferent condions and by i= fereot proses Telarge rare aways conta several diferent ‘doar of this kind for comparison. "Or, you can bea 2 gest pital dre ora moving se, oc seni leure; you can both sz and ea famous ia ot the Oljmpi games or a plenary sein at Genes (ye hee i sila Lage of Nations). Bea in mind thatthe ton pe! tore tn only the mort generally wed means of receding and conveying information ofall ar bri ha vel become afer Jang year of cammeraizaion, the vehi for masepices of “Did you look it any of the aio room? The nereing hing ere iethet the newspaper and the radio ave lag ago learcd 0 ‘wrk ogee and not to ppc and the runing eriique ‘all aio performance conducted by the pest ournal soe of fur moet wed work of elerene Incest, we keep back bers fal irmpoan zoadeass on ou shelve “Youngsters and older people swell comet the brary to ae rene their ped in the we ofthe vavous eesti machines ‘which have developed from the old aide ale—or they come 1 ‘improve dr foreign language ality through the pelephoni serie orttrin thir senuinens to cole pitch o odo. They ‘ne fo, to beter teal a gues by playing agin the hon bogey Of ous hissy israry, bu you wil find ha the smaller towne and the rural enter are much the same hough thee i Tet materi in tock, and move coming in rom oie on request, 4 Looking Forward, A Pastry {er example, ne ae eae forking afer he neds of shaded sale aes We prove eerie aco nd is [ecole vey of ks asa wel a livery by the ld bined racks, “Altar now eves on enya wel saan egy, sod aw mont dou sn eet come than twa “gy Sowe ae aed Ux mney we needed in oe Wa faa jaca wed lng aga Fons you mi honed ss? We dat ee bem any mot Aasconas aoa or jour as adit ave dy, 0 longes he wo gabe mas bts replaced by fla and iin pile dws take ch icy when you ale tat we ae dowa 3 andar of four lise br eying Aad even max of pl boxes ey go no rep ead erage. From he wail Badeing sao wb remem tha pl br dos ed tobe ound and reboar. “Ast cataloging caro irene spt now publi anes opie ten for new bods eater card Fo old _eordewe ave ea eprom he Liar of Congr ot tecef te other clcasog. When comers ng he cr, Thoth fron many yes we wathed th soeaed bs tes machines ope wih pols ad unk bok before. cure ws at they might be sped desing wih ary ‘Se with egal deni. Indexing hs become anes ew fr The moder ines laoget hod up nthe volume ba ‘eal on ead and te modes verion of he ol Haller a hin wil rt ob and porgrph anything tha the ale i, ‘dk eres wil hen pal hearin hi pls “Wels mot ixp op witha plano oz, snd Tad aks shar os ine So IF Yo had Ippened ost your new eprazs at sn ALA covenon, Tm ald you wouldnt ave ecogazed wht was gg on 207 sor than you regu hs ibrar Dulig “Sou may remember Sowa youngsters we wee ante wih 5The Library of Tomorrow the wie prophecies of H.G. Well Today Well ving fovea an interpreter of human nate which doen change ke ‘he machines but ata scene props, time ha proved him © be wha if remember ere, we wed to ell piker ave only told you ofthe things that had thi at Back a 1937, bo ‘use aboot tee we both can we more oe the seme language ‘Astothe newer procese ou wl ut have to take my ayo tat they have come, and keep coming, aad tht you woulda kaow what Twat elking aboot fT wed expla them to you. Ifyou vere w atuibte sme ofthe rents oa kind of barbed and Aired wept, you woulda’ be so far wrong. You eli of ‘ous, tat Tve been sipping many acer thingy, sich atthe hale queon af protecting property right formation which doce happen to be printed and Te sad auhing of the ew ‘demands ofthe new proesion, “Buta al some thing, and not the let important things for yout reenter haven changed a bitin thei fundamental For one thing, wel never get machine to lect s book or other ecard, o © withdraw one fora ciculatin. Wel never et ‘machine to exablsh th persona ouch withthe reader (we ill calle ll reader, bythe way, wheber hei intake iso be by sigh or wound or tuck). Fer anohe, the rary i il dhe mon seueralized of the cull seve in any commaniy, and now, {sin 937 the Kary mt stand eed to fin the apy wha rer they may be, and to do so mo adja the propedal is difereot ave in terms of eter ageciee which may be rable lal. For example you see that man ove ther in whit ‘youealedthe physics labora. He afr on ofthe department ‘tore andi matching clos by maturing the light vibration If this happesed wo bea ealege town, we would et the allege ook fer things of hat hid. On the oer hand we have here only & ‘very smal vary’ of ilusuaive model, berate we do have a god museum which gives thi hind of weve beer than we cn, Infacz, we ep oaly enough maelso ithe denn people's heads 6 Looking Forward, A Fantasy that forthe modern bar a modal ia bok; fi happens to be the clearest and most economical way to et aida into» human head” By this vim the Rigina Vas Winkle of my musing would ould he found er oe psa tnd resumed her questioning “With ll hse things which people today mut want to us, should chink the bray would be crammed, but sem wo be ther exp “No, we have che ural number here today. Da’ forget that in general the people cme into ata jb; most of what goes on Tier ges on at homeo in he ofc, othe sop. The kind of cuipment that you sec eee very generally tbe, an, just st mot ofthe ook reaiing was doe t bome inthe old dye and 5s today ot only the books but the fl and dics ace now ‘alate by the brary and wed at hoe. "By the way, you set worried Because 0 few of the pope ere seem tobe reading. Cuiouly enough, we are delighted that here seo many; with al be other and pparendy eaner methods fe ‘conveying abd absorbing information i lke for» whe as if reading would become ae of he ot rt but within the lat ew ear reading is coming iat own agin and the vector of the brains dllar which must go fo he purchase of pointed mae ‘eal is again growing gen” “But feral, musth varia ody bea very dierent kind 1 eon fromthe one Healy more of aroha engineer than beckworm?™ “No inded it has’ proved wecesery fora man o woman to eget ther things orbe a special Kad of penon inode orn thes conrapins sad keep them inorder Ju think back ad remember whea autombiling and later aviation seed denned ‘ote imited as human tives to mechanically minded nals” “Bats dn' ee how any woman dreto become iain.” "Well cde equi anymore ourage chan i di o Become 7The Library of Tomorrow 1 doin 57, with lle ae knowledge which had dereiped hrig the ft hid ofthe cemary aad whic eee about 12 vere de pean. Is away a qusion of bang {ne fandanennls and geting +e of al bot the tet thing Ofcourse, weno lange rend o na allege gadte tobee brian ins yr two yea but ornately pbc tow repre the yr fur sovice omy whee ov lary wal tiie the Inger preperation, Dat int la tater fhe ath of farina pear wig. The work it tsk beter orgie and web longer wate Une a ea the rie ery Farbermor wea cone mck eater day to pacing wha we prench abot ale ection, fd brary bors veered not ad inven 6 ‘mt oto do a good bi of our pacing on cmpany time” “Athi ny esie ight el moved pia thatthe relly bigchange mich had coe to the felon wa notin ‘nehunean bin ew vin ofinellcaller"Ia avy seer way" she mighty, “he information which a ran {maybe provides ice pe At one ed of tein the (gol Lnowleige that any reuosylneligest and taned Then shoud have in his nd or kw jr where o Bad. At the thr cad is he very highly seize Kind of tafrmation tobe found potas in oly one or two ete rae 257 socraon. We dont bther posers af ch knowlege 27 fore than we cn lp. soehing i thr oes we eae Caring Howe in Wahigton xe prea ee Sion ever nen ed ire. Eo the answer ad tnd immed sae; fhe lan are vey ese ‘bout hepig ou Lat weck we were och hog the Later lingual Gearing Hou x Grners with s bop in Teoh and an anthoplogtin ekg, bal of wh wee pa ge ‘what weaned “lnbetwen perl baowdg adhe highl spine ee come he great ms of rer spel knowlege which no 8 Looking Forward, Fantasy bwaran need pected cover, but which mus be on ap ether Jealy or einaly EreryUbracan who is worth i al nakes ia pia of pide wlep up with some specie andy of course, tobe ready to share what he knows wich is calleagues. My wa, specialty happeas wo besyaheictexles and jus belo you came {nT telephoned quits lite lecureon the subject wo someone 4 Inunded males avy on whom sal probably never ay my ej. ‘One ofthe big jb ofthe leaders in or profession in each fein Jato make sure that thi kindof informal verve kept wp. Mind yous the exper ae nc all civ varias, roenors and chol Teacher engineers ad lawyer pasos and a urpeing number ‘of nonproesional pple do thei bit at cine in the wa. Te ‘proves 2 admirable ay for married exirarians” "What woaderflpefeuin mast be wihall tee marelout new techniques for rfesional deveopmen, and all the chores mina” “Chores, my dear, ar never eliminated. Td think that day's ‘hors are more iteresng than the ons in the old dy ad hat ‘hey take ups smaller aoporon of my time, bat chore thre ae ‘nd always wil be, ad bythe sme token there wl vay be bores to be served, an colleagues wid testo be wodden ep, hough arto he ater mast add that what wad abe cle he peronel movement andthe mental hygene movement have done ‘och al slong the eto seer people nto the bs whic in vew of ther parculr expen and persona are the jobs hey ‘ought ely to be in Well, Mist Van Winkle having been projected socket into the fur all as a esa of my talk with Alvi Johnson and the ‘musings which flowed that alk ler us ave he here, easing, she will adjust heel ere of happy wel ‘Aer al the difereacs beeen 1957 and 198 spectacle at ‘hey must prove tbe, will am sre be ls sigicane than he enenes The Wary and the ibaran have already found the 9The Library of Tomorrow lace in human society and by and large, despite innumerable Changes in deal that place won't be wo very diferent twenty-one years ence. Lian ian exentislprofeion and a poe Son it 2 ealing in which te oe broad human qalies which ‘oun rained imeligece, imagination and inate, dire. eat anda sens of ial espoiityotehaiquso sk of the tad. The liberia to be ue, wl be reed from sme of hit retat ss from the physical care of dead and dying boks, with the atendant problems of binding and stacking, rom 3 camber some sytem of records which I saps i ald out of dt. He wil also be fed fem i present elf imposed ak ofevangcin, forit wile no more necessary twenty yeas bees" Hieaty service than iis today wo sell postal sve. For one ting the Youngsters who are aow leaning tobe “Latour a our eile ‘re roms wil hen be largely sn contra of pli opinion, and for another te steady reduction of clasroom intron in sha and calle, which has aleady sa ad the erepondig en- ‘ourgement of individ scion of information, wil mean that praca everyone then wll have some knowledge of how vowe ibray ‘The librarian by thea should have completely I that poe: ‘ogal rele which x omeimes in evidence today, for even though be himself may have no dove that be is ace of 2 rofesion cond in importance oso, he ian alae quit ue thar he ther flow know io Tis my expection that as ime ges on the librarian in out ‘coeumunity coun wil tend more sod moc to He up with the engines and the accountant, a «purveyor ofa background of acs, as contrasted with a foreground of hopes a fea. In com munity servic, he Wary wl one to be the pnch ites, constant adjustment a changing neds and to new ways of mewn ‘hem forthe brary ode eave to changes inthe body pole and th body sca, more immedaely seastive even than the ‘chook andi seems deed to emia to Ie may well be that 10 Lookog Forward, Fantasy iberiane may hve to gv over to ther pofeions yet unborn some ofthe pect or profesional rvs which day they ‘gard at mont precios but ifs, they wil aque new oppor ‘unis to replace dhe oes waned nd the lative poston of the proesion inthe ial panera should not be very dierent "That poston high and honorable today, and ic wil be bigh and onorable in 58.