ABC – How libraries thrive in the digital age…

How libraries not only survive but thrive in the digital age

Chris Jones remembers being warned in the late 1980s — just as the internet was emerging — that libraries would be “dead in five years”.ABC Regional News

Librarian Chris Jones remembers being warned in the late 1980s — just as the internet was emerging — that libraries would be “dead in five years”.

But despite advances in technology and the emergence of the digital age, he said libraries were thriving as people changed the way they used them.

Mr Jones said libraries were “here to stay” because they were about so much more than the books.

He said respondents to a survey done in 2000 found safety and social connection were the main things they got from libraries.

Taree resident Belinda Crisp enjoys visiting the library with her children.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

“We also did a survey in 2019 and asked people to, in one word or sentence, say what their library meant to them,” he said.

He said the one that struck him the most was “an end to my loneliness”.

“Libraries are about people, not books, they are about a safe, socially inclusive space where people can interact,” Mr Jones said.

“Think of them as great big indoor parks.”

How libraries have evolved

A young girl enjoys the library at Taree on the Mid North Coast.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Mr Jones is retiring from his long-term role as the MidCoast Council’s libraries and community services, where he has been based on the lower Mid North Coast of NSW.

“It’s been extraordinary the changes over the 35 years,” he said.

“When I first started, we were writing people’s numbers down on cards, the internet was not even a word.”

He said libraries began lending items such as movies on VHS cassettes and talking books on cassettes.

“When I was starting in 1987 the internet was just emerging and we were told that in five years libraries would be dead, and now libraries offer internet services,” he said.

“Then we were told ebooks were going to knock us out, and now we lend ebooks, and then we were told streamed content was going to knock us out and turns out we offer that, and we are still as busy as we have ever been.”

Libraries offer many children’s resources and book readings.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Mr Jones said libraries had also become much more user-friendly and encouraged social connections.

“The thing I find most fascinating is the shift in what libraries are, not just what they do,” he said.

“When I was growing up, they were really places that were about books and not so much about people … you had to be quiet and behave yourself in the library … it was all about looking after the books.

He said things changed in the 2000s.

“And there’s social events we put on, author talks, children’s events, and story readings, or you can just sit in a comfortable chair and read and be part of the community, and everyone is accepted,” he said.

Chris Jones says many readers still enjoy holding a book.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Taree’s Belinda Crisp said she loved bringing her children to the local library.

“I like to surround the kids with books … they just devour the books,” she said.

“It’s nice to have a public space available to everyone.”

Mr Jones said while ebooks were popular, physical books remained relevant.

“There’s also been a bit of a bounce back of the physical book, because people do like holding a physical book and feeling it,” he said.

“It’s an additional sense you bring in to reading a book.”

He said book clubs had also increased in popularity.