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The Best of Both Worlds
CHAPTER 4
The Best of Both Worlds Julie Arndrup Copenhagen Libraries, Denmark
Danish libraries are at the fore when it comes to the exploitation of digital opportunities. In a small, relatively homogeneous country such as Denmark, it is easy to cooperate nationally and utilise the various digital options optimally, and it is certainly not our view that digitality itself will put an end to the wisdom of libraries. In Denmark, we feel it is the case that the physical library is complemented by the various digital options. A good example is the Danish children’s libraries shared site.1 Here all Danish children find they can access their library, order materials from other libraries to be sent to their local library, communicate with peers and participate in groups based on their interests. A sub-project is the creation of Palleland on a Minecraft server where the Danish children can meet in cyberspace and build things together. Recently the children in the community built a true copy of the buildings in which the international Eurovision Song Contest was held in May 2014. Biblo.dk also facilitates a national summer reading campaign, which is very popular amongst the children, and they eagerly share their book reviews both written and on videos. Another example worth mentioning is eReolen2 where library users can borrow e-books. Both retirees and young people enjoy having the chance to populate the iPad with a handful of e-books for the holidays. Here citizens who are users at their local library can log on and read e-books and also listen to audiobooks. This benefits a broad range of people, including children who have difficulty reading, the elderly and the visually impaired as well as children who do not bother reading the books that they have to in school. eReolen is also an app and can be downloaded in iTunes (name: eReolen). eReolen can only exist if the publishers and the libraries agree on terms and conditions, and this has proven to be a bit of a challenge and there is still room for improvements. 1 www.biblo.dk. 2 www.ereolen.dk.
The End of Wisdom? ISBN 978-0-08-100142-4 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100142-4.00004-X
Copyright © 2017 J. Arndrup. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
49
50
The End of Wisdom?
As can be seen from these examples, Danish public libraries understand how to take advantage of digital opportunities in a way that benefits many different patrons. We feel that the digital offer is an enrichment and a good supplement to the traditional library service. We can see that borrowing statistics might be falling when it comes to traditional books, but in some places they are actually increasing. Also the number of people who visit libraries is rising, and we think that the digital services are not keeping people away from the library or from reading. They are just reading in new ways and using the libraries differently. In our view, it is important to include the possibilities that digitality gives us without sacrificing the library’s traditional services. We must be careful not to compete on market terms and offer the same as everyone else when what we have in fact is so unique and hard to find elsewhere; peace and quiet, help when needed and the right to be left alone. Children and young people especially spend so much time in institutions in Denmark that the library’s offer of a free space on their own terms is more necessary now than ever. Part of the large scale digitisation plan for Denmark is that all citizens have a digital mailbox through which they receive all personal emails from the government. This has the effect that there are few places where you can meet a representative of the state face to face, other than at the public libraries and so-called Borgerservice places. Therefore libraries will probably carry out more unconventional events in the future. The challenge will be to get sufficient resources so that future roles and responsibilities do not distract from the traditional library services and that the librarians can use their education the way they intended – and according to the Danish library law; public libraries are to promote information, education and cultural activity by making available books, magazines, audiobooks and other suitable materials such as recorded music and electronic information resources, including the Internet and multimedia.
The Best of Both Worlds Julie Arndrup Copenhagen Libraries, Denmark
Danish libraries are at the fore when it comes to the exploitation of digital opportunities. In a small, relatively homogeneous country such as Denmark, it is easy to cooperate nationally and utilise the various digital options optimally, and it is certainly not our view that digitality itself will put an end to the wisdom of libraries. In Denmark, we feel it is the case that the physical library is complemented by the various digital options. A good example is the Danish children’s libraries shared site.1 Here all Danish children find they can access their library, order materials from other libraries to be sent to their local library, communicate with peers and participate in groups based on their interests. A sub-project is the creation of Palleland on a Minecraft server where the Danish children can meet in cyberspace and build things together. Recently the children in the community built a true copy of the buildings in which the international Eurovision Song Contest was held in May 2014. Biblo.dk also facilitates a national summer reading campaign, which is very popular amongst the children, and they eagerly share their book reviews both written and on videos. Another example worth mentioning is eReolen2 where library users can borrow e-books. Both retirees and young people enjoy having the chance to populate the iPad with a handful of e-books for the holidays. Here citizens who are users at their local library can log on and read e-books and also listen to audiobooks. This benefits a broad range of people, including children who have difficulty reading, the elderly and the visually impaired as well as children who do not bother reading the books that they have to in school. eReolen is also an app and can be downloaded in iTunes (name: eReolen). eReolen can only exist if the publishers and the libraries agree on terms and conditions, and this has proven to be a bit of a challenge and there is still room for improvements. 1 www.biblo.dk. 2 www.ereolen.dk.
The End of Wisdom? ISBN 978-0-08-100142-4 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100142-4.00004-X
Copyright © 2017 J. Arndrup. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
49
50
The End of Wisdom?
As can be seen from these examples, Danish public libraries understand how to take advantage of digital opportunities in a way that benefits many different patrons. We feel that the digital offer is an enrichment and a good supplement to the traditional library service. We can see that borrowing statistics might be falling when it comes to traditional books, but in some places they are actually increasing. Also the number of people who visit libraries is rising, and we think that the digital services are not keeping people away from the library or from reading. They are just reading in new ways and using the libraries differently. In our view, it is important to include the possibilities that digitality gives us without sacrificing the library’s traditional services. We must be careful not to compete on market terms and offer the same as everyone else when what we have in fact is so unique and hard to find elsewhere; peace and quiet, help when needed and the right to be left alone. Children and young people especially spend so much time in institutions in Denmark that the library’s offer of a free space on their own terms is more necessary now than ever. Part of the large scale digitisation plan for Denmark is that all citizens have a digital mailbox through which they receive all personal emails from the government. This has the effect that there are few places where you can meet a representative of the state face to face, other than at the public libraries and so-called Borgerservice places. Therefore libraries will probably carry out more unconventional events in the future. The challenge will be to get sufficient resources so that future roles and responsibilities do not distract from the traditional library services and that the librarians can use their education the way they intended – and according to the Danish library law; public libraries are to promote information, education and cultural activity by making available books, magazines, audiobooks and other suitable materials such as recorded music and electronic information resources, including the Internet and multimedia.