NC Commission for the Future of Libraries and the Book
Report to the NCLA Executive Board
July 19, 2002

The Commission held its first meeting on July 15, 2002, at the Wake County Public Libraries, Administration Building in Raleigh. The Commission reviewed its charge, as outlined in a December 2001 letter from NCLA President Ross Holt, and discussed various options for the products of its work, including the possibility of editing a future issue of the Association's journal, North Carolina Libraries, and the possibility of sessions at the 2003 biennial conference. Other ideas

Much discussion centered on the work that the Commission should do as well as the intended audience of that work. It was decided that the Commission should focus on three audiences:

• Librarians or those about to enter the library profession
• The public, both library users and non-users
• Funders and power brokers, including the media

It was also decided that the Commission should focus on three products:

• A message - i.e., what is the future role of libraries given the future of the book?
• A set of methods for conveying the message to the audiences
• An environment for the continuing discussion of these topics and the continuing education of the audiences

The Commission decided to gather information to help formulate the message in two ways - a literature review that would define what is known or speculated about the future of the book and the future of libraries; and local (i.e., statewide) input from the three audiences identified earlier regarding their perceptions of the future of the book and the future of libraries.

Future meetings were set for September in Winston-Salem and November at a site to be determined. The purpose of the next meeting will be to review the summaries of the current literature and to formulate an agenda for the continued work of the Commission.

Robert Burgin, Chair