Laser Foundation/Futures Group Report on PLs

Here's a report that readers of this blog shouldn't miss: "Libraries: A Vision. The Public Library Service in 2015." The report is, as the introduction states, "the result of a two-day seminar for librarians held at Bedford (UK) in 2004. It was organised by the Laser Foundation...Those who attended were mainly young middle managers (The Futures Group)."

The summary of conclusions should get your motor running. They include following the "customer-led" model (George's note: Someday I am going to do a fan letter to Charles Robinson on this site); RFID will lead to revolutionary ways of allocating staff; library staff should follow a dress code, maybe even wear uniforms (George again: I'm at OCLC today in jeans, sneakers and a polo shirt, so this one really concerns me); library school syllabi are out of touch with today's needs; and my personal favorite: "In the future there will be no 'one size fits all' library."

This is in some ways a follow up to last year's scathing report "Who's in Charge? Responsibility for the Public Library Service," by Tim Coates on public libraries in the UK, but it seems more upbeat. After all, the authors/editors quote the environmental scan, so we know they display impeccable taste!

To get to the report, click on The Futures Group, then follow the links to "Publications." You might also want to participate in the forum the Group launched today about "Libraries in a Changing Network Environment."