From the Director
by Terry Dawson

The impact that technology has had on libraries is phenomenal; with the advent of InfoSoup, Appleton and other OWLSnet member libraries are offering a great tool. In my thirty-five years working in libraries, I’ve seen amazing changes, mostly in areas of technology and media. But our core values, and even most daily activities, remain unchanged.

We’re still mostly about learning and community: the communication of knowledge and culture; books are still the best tools we have. Books will be with us for a long time to come and will remain important for libraries. And yet...

An increasing amount of library use is media. We have reason to be proud of the terrific DVD and CD collections our staff has built – often with the assistance of grants from the Appleton Library Foundation. As a music lover and film buff, I use these areas of the collection heavily. For information, the Internet has become and unparalleled tool. APL and OWLSnet provide some wonderful value-added databases. And yet....

The Internet is a long, long way from containing everything you can find in books. Neither does Google help you understand what online resources are best for your particular needs, like a good librarian can. And a great part of the value of public libraries is as a welcoming place for the whole community to come together. That won’t be changing any time soon.

Between the good old values and the brand new opportunities, this is an exciting time to be a librarian – or a library user!