Speaker: Michael Porter
Libraries are content combined with community. Electronic content access is making it more challenging for libraries to accomplish their missions.
It’s easy to complain but hard to do. Sadly, we tend to complain more than doing. If we get a reputation for being negative, that will be detrimental. That doesn’t mean we should be Sally Sunshine, but we need to approach things with a more positive attitude to make change happen.
Libraries have an identity problem. We are tied to content (ie books). 95% of people in poverty have cable television. They can’t afford it, but they want it, so they get it. Likewise, mobile access to content is moving to ubiquitous.
Our identity needs to be moved back to content. We need to circ electronic content better than Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, etc.
Electronic content distribution is a complicated issue. Vendors in our market don’t have the same kind of revenue as companies like Apple. We aren’t getting the best people or solutions — we’re getting the good enough, if we’re lucky.
Could libraries became the distribution hub for media and other electronic content?
