Libraries in the digital age

The Pew Research Center in Washington DC has announced plans to study how the role of the public library in the digital age is changing and how the needs and expectations of users are shifting. It’s a three-year Gates Foundation funded research project whose findings will act as predictors of trends in UK libraries.

‘Few institutions have been more challenged by the rise of the internet and mobile connectivity than the local library,’ says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project. ‘Many libraries have responded with innovations and sweeping overhauls in the way they deliver on their missions. With the Gates Foundation’s support, the Pew Internet Project will provide an in-depth, data-driven analysis of how libraries are responding to technology trends, and how communities' expectations are changing at a time when library functions are in flux.’...