How Amazing is the ALA Library of the Future Site?!

Click on and check out the individual trends ALA sees as most impacting the library of the future. What do you think of these trends? Did you see something you hadn't considered? Do you think they are missing anything important?  http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/future/trends

First of all, can I just say that this section of the ALA site is A-MAZING? Who knew this was here?! Not only are all the hot-topics of the future here, but they are so well explained that what seem like huge sprawling topics are concisely explained in just a few paragraphs. And then, on top of that, how each topic relates to libraries is explored! Do people know about this?! People should know about this!!

So, as I was clicking around this site and looking at things, almost every trend I clicked on stimulated my brain to think of ideas. Talk about prompts! For example, I first clicked on “Badging.” Aha, I thought. Yes! People love badging and companies seem to all be doing this. When I got my fitbit, I started getting emails from Fitbit with “badges” I earned for walking 100 miles, visiting certain places, etc. My five-year old loves going to the kids’ workshops at Home Depot. Every time you do a project, you get a pin with a picture of the project to pin to your Home Depot apron. Not only do kids love getting a little something, but then you can look back and see all the things you’ve accomplished over time. We could totally incorporate badging into libraries very easily, by setting up milestones for reading or doing or making, etc. Especially for summer reading programs, this would be a really easy and fun addition.

Next I clicked on “Unplugged.” Yeah, that’s right! I thought. Even though we are, on the one hand, spending more time with our devices than ever, the unplugged trend seems really popular as well. Why not have libraries jump on that trend and celebrate spaces where you can sit quietly and read or work? You could set up a space to look and feel like a spa (why not have new age-y music and some plants and a little bubbling fountain) and call it the Unplugged Room.

I learned something from every trend I clicked on, and got ideas too. I even learned about trends I didn’t know about, and terms I hadn’t heard before (Haptic Techology—how cool!). I don’t consider myself someone who is on top of trends, so this page was a mind opener and so fun to explore. The only trend I can think of that I didn’t see here is the slow food/back to the farm-type of trend for cooking and eating. I don’t know if it has any implications for libraries, but it could… library gardens? Cookbook tie-ins? Cooking demonstrations? Everything has possibilities!