Have We Lost Our Way? Examining the Purpose of Libraries in a Post Literate Society

As long as people have been keeping records, recording stories and facts, they have been compiling collections. Libraries are the repositories of culture and knowledge. Ancient libraries contained clay tablets, which gave way to scrolls, then papyrus, then parchment, which led to books. Since books were invented, other forms to arise include microforms, audio forms of various types, CD ROMs, and finally the Internet. The Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, complained in 378, when the Roman Empire was waning, that “…libraries are closing forever, like tombs (Batley).” Does this sound familiar?

In his book, Fool’s Gold: Why the Internet is No Substitute for a Library, Mark Herring paints a fairly grim picture of the future of libraries. Basically, he posits that a confluence of events and attitudes have come together to bring about the demise (unless something is done, and soon) of the library as we know it. First, people mistakenly believe that they can find anything on the Internet. Second, people don’t read or enjoy reading, or read well any more. This point is also made by Doug Johnson in a blog post entitled, “Libraries for a Post Literate Society I.” However, what Herring greets with great trepidation, Johnson treats as the next step in cultural evolution. After all, he points out, we were drawing pictures to get meaning across long before words came along, now we are just getting back to our roots. Johnson freely admits that for many people print reading is limited to short personal or functional pieces such as signage or blog entries. In other words, people do not need to read words anymore, or at least not much. Herring is more than a little alarmed by this turn of events. He mourns the decrease of readi...

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Batley, Sue, Michael E. D. Koenig, and Toni Carbo. "Library." World Book Advanced. 2009. Wakeland High School Library, Frisco, Texas. 6 Feb. 2009. .

Herring, Mark Y. Fool’s Gold: Why the Internet is no Substitute for a Library. Jefferson, N. C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2007.

Johnson, Doug. “Libraries for a post-literate society I.” The Blue Skunk Blog. 13 August 2008. Doug Johnson. 5 February 2009. .

Price, Gary. “What Google Teaches Us That Has Nothing to do With Searching.” Webmastery. November/December 2003. Gary Price Research and Internet Consulting. 15 October 2008. .