Finding the Phoenix: Feathers, Flight & the Future of Libraries

Helene Blowers

Director of Digital Strategy
Columbus Metropolitan Library

9 October 2009

9:30-10:00 a.m.
Coffee and Pastry Reception

10:00-11:30 a.m.
Presentation and Discussion

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
Kilgour Building—Auditorium
6565 Kilgour Place
Dublin, OH 43017-3395

This presentation is free and open to the public.

As public libraries continue to evolve to meet customers' needs in a rapidly changing culture, great concerns remain over the future of print and the "book." However, in looking at current trends, there is evidence to suggest these concerns may be unwarranted. The future of libraries may not be dependent on the creation or evolution of new service delivery models, it may actually reside in something more "deeply local." Join Helene Blowers in a lively conversation about the library phoenix. As old formats and service models decline, a new bird is rising from their shadows.

Background Information

Helene Blowers is the Director of Digital Strategy for the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to joining CML, she served as the Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, where she created many groundbreaking and award winning library services, including the widely adopted discovery learning program, Learning 2.0: 23 Things, which has been replicated by over 500 hundred libraries and organizations worldwide.

Helene is a 2007 Library Journal Mover & Shaker and the 2008 recipient of the LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication for Continuing Education in Library and Information Science. She is the co-author of the book, Weaving a Library Web: A Guide to Developing Children's Websites, and a frequent presenter at library conferences. She blogs at LibraryBytes.com.

Additional Information

Columbus Metropolitan Library
http://www.columbuslibrary.org/

Helene Blower's LibraryBytes Blog
http://librarybytes.com/

You are welcome to attend this presentation in person or remotely via WebEx. Registering in advance allows us to plan sufficient refreshments and to alert you if for any reason the lecture needs to be rescheduled. Advanced registration is encouraged, but not required.

Please RSVP by e-mailing [email protected] or calling OCLC Research at (614) 764-6073 and indicating your name, affiliation and telephone number.

Maps to OCLC are available here.

A recording of this presentation will be made available online at www.oclc.org/research/dss/ . Additional information about the Distinguished Seminar Series can also be found there.

A printable version of this announcement is available at: www.oclc.org/research/dss/pdf/blowers.pdf (.pdf: 65KB/1 p.).

Remote Access

The audio and slides of this meeting will be broadcast live online. If you are unable to attend the event in person, you may attend online via WebEx.

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