Library as "Technology Center"

I have been preoccupied with ebooks of late as I look back over the postings here.  But that isn't all that we are working on here at HPL.  As a child of the Cold War era, a regular theme for me when thinking about modern library service is "proliferation".  Proliferation of formats, proliferation of technology, and proliferation of confusion and need for training in both areas.  Not only do the library staff need constant updates to skills and knowledge, but patrons come in with a huge variety of questions about technology.  How are we going to deal with the enormous variety of new "things"?  How will we as a public library remain relevant and not only relevant, but maybe even become indispensable?

Right now we do a ... fair job.  Our problem is that since the situation arose incrementally, it was addressed incrementally.  'Incremental" in this case means "haphazard".  So now we have one department checking out laptops, another dealing with public computers, another dealing with faxes and copies, and everyone dealing in their own fashion with tech gadget questions.  The result is that from the patron's side, one gets hit-or-miss service.  This is no one's fault, it is just how it has evolved.

I think one way that we can overcome this is that we could become not just an information place, but a technology center.  If you Google "library technology center" you get results from library websites talking mostly about public-use computers.  The computers you use at the library to check your email, your Facebook, or to play games or even sometimes do some research.  But that's not the only function needed.  In fact, it's probably not even the most important function needed any more, though it remains essential.

This is what "Technology Center" is to most libraries.

What is needed, I think, is a one-stop place where a patron can come and get any library-oriented tech-related issue addressed.  The whole gamut from faxing a document to downloading an ebook; from searching and applying for a job to whiling away an hour or two on a flash game.

The concept is much broader than just a "computer lab".  It would be a place in the library where the services and "things" the library offers could be matched with the  patron needs or with the "things" owned by the patrons who come here seeking whatever it is they seek.

It would be a place staffed with people expert in the use of electronic library services.  Not quite a public "help desk", but close.  Not a place to have your equipment repaired, rather a place to get answers for technical questions regarding your favorite technology tools as they relate to what the library offers, be it as simple as WiFi or as in-depth as a specialized research database.

Can it be done?  I see no reason why not.  Now is the time to plan.  We have the tools scattered all about.  We have the people and we have the need.