Open AccessNotes from the noodle factory: 21st-Century librarianship in search of new paradigms
Author(s) -
Ralph H. Turner
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
school libraries worldwide
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2816-3788
pISSN - 1023-9391
DOI - 10.29173/slw6823
Subject(s) - factory (object oriented programming) , relevance (law) , face (sociological concept) , reading (process) , existentialism , library science , political science , management , sociology , public relations , social science , computer science , law , economics , programming language
n his 1976 dedication of the Connecticut College library, Kurt Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where many people do not really enjoy reading,"Noodles are okay. Libraries are okay. They are rather neutral good news." It was an indifference, however, that could be tolerated three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information. In contrast, in this era of existential crisis and as libraries scramble for "relevance," in face of a crisis of definition and mission, the urgent question then arises: What new paradigms must be formulated to define the mission of the 21st-century library and delineate how that mission can better support both education and culture?