Afternoon Podcast

While mowing the lawn this past weekend, I decided to get my educational Podcast on. So I dialed up my go-to app for enjoying podcasts -- the Stitcher app -- and stumbled upon something quite interesting. Now, I was aware that the Free Library of Philadelphia regularly hosts excellent guest speakers and subsequently creates an audio recording available online. All for free, as their institution's name would suggest. I just so happened to find the perfect episode in light of this class: an evening with John Palfry, author of Bibliotech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google.

Mr. Palfry has had an distinguished career. His CV includes: Harvard Law School Professor, Executive Director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Policy, founding chairman of the Digital Public Library of America, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Knight Foundations, while currently serving as the Head of School at Phillips Academy -- Andover.

With all that experience comes some pretty learned takes on the current state of librarianship and its intersection with technology. "We live in a time of rapid and transformative changes in the world of publishing, information technologies, and learning" says Palfry.  And librarians stand to "play a central role in supporting new modes" if we are only able to adapt and thrive within these new realities.

Ultimately, Palfry's message is one of hope -- and one of action. As future information professionals, it is up to us to answer the clarion call.