A Theme Park Company and City of Homestead, Florida are Building the World’s First “Cybrary” (Library of the Future)

Homestead’s “Cybrary” is scheduled to open in during the Summer of 2018.
From the Miami Herald:

Landmark Entertainment Group — the company responsible for the Spider-Man and Jurassic Park rides at Universal Orlando and Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas — has partnered with the city of Homestead to create the world’s first “Cybrary,” or cyber library.
“We are redefining what the library is,” said George Gretsas, Homestead’s city manager. “When you think about bettering this thing called a library, which has been around since before 300 B.C, do you turn to the library scientists — the librarians — to create a fresh and new thing, or do you turn to people who have expertise in the areas of entertainment and attraction?”
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“It’s like, why can’t Mary Poppins be your Cybrarian? What if children weren’t hushed but rather encouraged and inspired to really want to read, to learn, to explore new places to really engage?” said Tony Christopher, Landmark’s founder, CEO and president. “We are brainstorming ways to gamify the library experience and make kids — and adults — actually want to take a trip to the library.”
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The new Cybrary will be operated by the city. It will be a two-story 35,000 square-foot building built on the site of an auto parts business at the intersection of Mowry Street and North Krome Avenue.
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The city’s desire to bring the Cybrary to life was sparked when council members asked 20 high school students if they had been to the library in the past two years. Only two students raised their hands. At the time, the city already had starting planning the Cybrary and wanted to know where conventional libraries fall short.

Direct to Complete Article (approx. 1400 words)
See Also: Cybrary Trademark/Logo
Quick Note From infoDOCKET Editor, Gary Price:
As I’ve noted MANY times over many years on infoDOCKET, most recently a few weeks ago, we once again see/read (below) that it’s essential to to do a much better job in changing the public’s perception of libraries and librarians in 2017 and beyond.
From the Article:

What if children weren’t hushed but rather encouraged and inspired to really want to read, to learn, to explore new places to really engage?” said Tony Christopher, Landmark’s founder, CEO and president.

Old habits, beliefs, and stereotypes often die hard but if we don’t do speak up LOUDLY, no one will.
On a related note, I wonder how many “non-traditional” job opportunities where librarian skills and training would be valuable never materialize because of incorrect/outdated ideas about libraries/librarians?

Filed under: Libraries, News