Will Libraries Outlive Books?

Despite their reputation for dusty book jackets and silence, libraries aren’t simply repositories of the already read—they offer gathering places and community resources, and even serve as battlegrounds for civil liberties battles. Nevertheless, it can be difficult to imagine the library’s role in a world in which everyone can carry Google with them at all times.

Join Future Tense in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 as we explore some of the most important questions facing libraries: Are physical libraries still necessary in a digital age? How should they serve communities glued to smartphones and tablets? And how can they prepare themselves for tomorrow without losing their souls today?

Follow the discussion online using #FutureOfLibraries and follow us @FutureTenseNow.

Reception to follow

Agenda:

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Alexandria Unbound: Re-Imagining the Library for the Digital Age

Jesse Sheidlower 
Lexicographer
@jessesheidlower  

Daniel M. Russell 
Über Tech Lead, Search Quality & User Happiness at Google
@dmrussell  

Richard Reyes-Gavilan 
Executive Director of DC Public Library
@RReyesGavilan  

Deborah Jacobs
Director of the Global Libraries Initiative at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
 @djlibrarian  

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm The Library of 2100

Miguel Figueroa 
Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries at the American Library Association
@ALALibrary  

Elizabeth Merritt 
Founding Director of the Center for the Future of Museums at the American Association of Museums
@futureofmuseums  

James O’Donnell 
University Librarian at Arizona State University
@ASULibraries  

Moderator:

Justin Peters 
Writer at Slate
@justintrevett  

7:30 pm – 8:30 pm Reception

Future Tense is a partnership of Arizona State University, New America and Slate.