# 15 Library 2.0

This whole Library 2.0 training exercise has made me think about the future direction of libraries in a world that is constantly changing socially, politically, economically, environmentally and technologically.
Around 130 years ago, Melvil Dewey devised the Dewey Decimal Classification System and totally revolutionised the library world. Up until around ten years ago, libraries seemed to change at a slow, leisurely pace, almost as though change could only be accepted if there was no alternative. With the introduction of computers and the internet, not to mention the changes in social attitudes, change within libraries is now the norm. Libraries have to justify their place in the modern world. With so much information seemingly easily accessible on-line, librarians have to prove their role as information providers.
So how do we do this? Do we jump on the nearest bandwagon and eagerly embrace everything? Do we set up blogs and RSS feeds and rely on the new technology for our information resources? Or should we adopt a wait and see attitude, risking missing out altogether?
As an information services librarian in a frontline management position in a public library, I feel my power to bring about change in a physical sense is limited. My voice is small. However, I can embrace the changes in a metaphysical way, trying to bring about a change in mindset for myself and for my colleagues, ensuring that the people I work with will be able to accept the inevitable changes in a positive, empowering way. My personal shelf-life as a librarian is probably limited to a decade. I can only hope that the extent of positive change I have witnessed in the past decade will be replicated in the next ten years!