The Best Things Change

Abstract

Column Editor's NoteIt is a privilege to be asked to edit and write a column addressing issues of concern to the general public and the public library community. I will attempt to bring issues forward from the point of view of public libraries, large and small, wealthy and struggling, used and neglected, and those facing the future, as well as those struggling to preserve practices that deserve respect, if not preservation.Although the Journal of Library Administration has peer-reviewed articles, this “In the Public Interest” column is intended to represent all of the perspectives of the public concerning public libraries, and those of persons who are delivering service to the public through public libraries. This column will appear on a rotation, in several issues each year. Submissions are not peer-reviewed, but are reviewed and selected by the column editor. Public library administrators, managers, anyone on the staff of a public library, and those serving in elected and appointed positions in local governments are invited to contribute to the column by contacting Josie Parker at josie@aadl.org email address. Manuscript guidelines and submission timelines will be sent with further instruction for authors.In 2012 the Ann Arbor District Library proposed a bond millage to fund the building of a new main library. The millage failed, and this failure led to a major restructuring of the library's communications practices. This article discusses the immediate reaction of the local library profession to the bond question and afterward. The column attempts to draw a parallel between the global questioning of the relevance of the public library as an institution in the “age of Amazon” and the profession's general reaction to the internet in the early 1990's.