The presentations focused on the future of libraries, higher education, technology, student learning, and publishing, with an ultimate goal of looking at where libraries will be in the year 2033. The course-ference was powered by Jenzabar eLearning and Learning Objects.
More than 250 people from three continents participated in the course-ference.
“Our thinking of doing it this way was ‘let’s invent something fun, new, and wonderful as a way to think about what’s wonderful, new, and fun when it comes to next generation libraries,’” Kelley said.
Some universities have decided to get a jump start on building the “library of the future.” Marywood University in Scranton, Penn., obtained a $4 million grant this month from the Scranton Redevelopment Authority to help fund a $35 million “Learning Commons.”
The library won’t have typical stacks of books, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported, but an automated storage and retrieval a system in the center of the building and the ground level.
Kelley said the point of Carthage’s conference, however, was not so much to discuss libraries as buildings, but libraries as organizations. Though the college is small and hadn’t tackled a library event of this size before, Kelley said he and his staff think the effort was well-worth the trouble.
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