From Lending to Learning

8

Looking to the future

Libraries were founded to assist learning – a type of learning that was print-based and required the use of books. This form of learning, with its associated emphasis on print materials, has long been revered and formed the basis of academic pursuit. The information and knowledge recorded in print have been arranged into collections and stored in close physical proximity to provide a library. Spaces surrounding libraries and collections of materials used to access and study the collections began as seats of learning and developed into colleges and universities. Public libraries, as a subset of libraries, were founded with a role to support learning outside formal institutions; however, over time this link with learning ...