Libraries in the new millennium

Volume 8, Number 3 • March 2000

Libraries in the new millennium
by Doris Small Helfer

LEADING LIBRARIES column discusses the current state of the library profession. Relates that among the speakers at the CARL (California Association of Research Libraries) Annual Conference was Michael Gorman, Dean of the Library at California State University, who has made no secret of his grave concerns about the terrible state of library education. Says that his concerns about the dropping of the "L" word stems from too many library school programs who have lost the word library from their names along with the focus on librarians as keepers, preservers, and organizers of information. Points out that librarians need to think long and hard about core values before information scientists take another school away from them. Concludes that library schools are needed that continue to train professionals who are equipped to handle all the possibilities that the Information Age has to offer.