Q&A Interview with Library Historian Wayne Wiegand About the Future and History of Libraries

The interview appears in today’s issue of The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper at the University of North Carolina.
From the Introduction:

Wayne Wiegand, a Florida State University professor, is a world-renowned librarian historian studying the importance of libraries in the United States.
On a tour of his book, “Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library,” Wiegand will be stopping at UNC’s Carolina Club today to deliver the 2015 Lucile Kelling Henderson Lecture, hosted by the School of Information and Library Science.
Wiegand spoke to Arts & Entertainment Editor Sarah Vassello about the future and the history of libraries in America as well as the importance of the library as a public space.

Here’s one Q&A exchange from the interview:

DTH [Daily Tar Heel]: Where do you see libraries today?
WW [Wayne Wiegand]: Among one of the things that I’m going to be saying at North Carolina (today) is that we’ve experienced only growth in public libraries since the beginning of the 21st century, and a lot of people predicted they wouldn’t last into the 21st century with the internet.
The reason they’ve grown is because of that public space and the reading, viewing and listening materials they provide. People are using them and they’re using them and there are more of them than there ever were before, so if you’re asking about the future, it looks pretty bright to me.

Read the Complete Interview
See Also: Wayne Wiegand’s Bio Page and List of Publications (via Florida State University)
See Also: Book Info Page: Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library

Filed under: Interviews, Lecture, Libraries, News, Profiles, Public Libraries