Last One Out Turn Off the Lights: Is This the Future of American and Canadian Libraries? [Paperback]

Susan E. Cleyle (Author), Louise M. McGillis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2005 | ISBN-10: 081085192X | ISBN-13: 978-0810851924

Libraries in the United States and Canada are facing similar challenges to their futures. Editors Susan Cleyle and Louise McGillis have pulled together an impressive list of contributors to look at the future of the profession and answer the question: is it time to turn off the lights and call it a day? Essays challenge the reader on five different topics: the Web, library as place, pushing to the desktop, certification, and the future of associations. Contributors were asked to think outside the box and take readers to places they may not have been before thus providing both LIS students and practicing librarians with innovative ways to position themselves to serve a future society that is information hungry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Each essay in the book offers a different perspective on how to get services to users—all those nonusers and lapsed users who have fled to the Internet, and even our fellow professionals and paraprofessionals. Some are more practical, 'how-to' articles; others are thoughtful pieces on the roles of libraries and how we as librarians can move forward and yet also 'preserve what is good.' (College and Research Libraries, Vol. 67, No. 6 (November 2006) )

The essays provide a wonderful mix of the philosophical and the practical. Ultimately, Last One Out Turn Off the Lights provides a re-affirmation of the value of libraries and librarians, provided we are determined to figure out how to best 'serve an information-hungry society.' (Info Career Trends )

...very timely...It should be read by librarians and library workers in all library settings, and added to any library's collection. (Public Services Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2/3 (2006) )

...this collection makes for stimulating discussion and consciousness-raising professional reading. The essays are tightly structured and succinct in presenting and discussing the state of the profession. Highly recommended for those in supervisory positions within public and academic libraries as well as library association leaders. (Medical Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Spring 2007) )

...full of questions...universal for all library and information professionals at the beginning of the twenty-first century. (Library Management, Vol. 27, No. 9 (2006) )

Editors Susan E. Cleyle and Louise M. McGillis invited 16 essayists to speculate about the role of libraries in the future. In Last One Out Turn Off the Lights: Is This the Future of American and Canadian Libraries? forecasts are grouped into five main areas: the Web, library as place, pushing to the desktop, certification, and the future of library associations. Among the essayists are Roy Tennant, who evaluates the Web as both a threat and a salvation for the profession; and Barbara K. Stripling, who addresses the certification debate. (American Libraries )

Sixteen essays from library professionals and academics consider the future of U.S. and Canadian libraries in a world where alternative sources of information abound. Five main topics are addressed: competition from the Web, the library as place, the consequences of pushing electronic resources to the desktop, certification issues, and the future of library associations. (Reference and Research Book News )

About the Author

Susan Cleyle is an Associate University Librarian with Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has written and spoken on a variety of topics that will affect the profession both today and tomorrow.

Louise McGillis is an Information Services Librarian with Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University in Corner Brook Newfoundland. Louise's expertise is in the area of user preferences and usage statistics, two areas of grave importance to the future of successful libraries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (February 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081085192X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810851924
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,949,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars do we still need librarians?, August 6, 2005

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This review is from: Last One Out Turn Off the Lights: Is This the Future of American and Canadian Libraries? (Paperback)

The predominant theme of this book seems to be uncertainty. The Web has shaken many professions, and library science is one of these. A rather sleepy discipline that has been used to centralised control of databases has been jolted into stress. Not the least because search engines are now most people's first resource for finding information.

The essays speculate as to possible ways the profession could go. But there is an optimistic note. If information becomes universally available and pervasive, then there might be a greater need for those who understand how to look for trusted data, and how to navigate the Web in an intelligent manner that a search engine cannot yet aspire to.

It should be said, in passing, that the issues in the book are not confined to US or Canadian libraries. They apply to any library.

Plus, ironically enough, it has been noted that when libraries install free internet computers, that these are often the most popular items to the public.