Monday October 03, 2005

Moving From Libraries to Starbucks: Outsourcing the Third Place

Jeff Kallay got me thinking about the role of libraries this morning...

Which of the following places are you most likely to spend your spare time: a) Starbucks; b) Barnes & Noble; or c) a nearby public library?

Ten years ago, you probably didn't even have access to two of those three options, given that Starbucks hadn't yet taken over the world and B&N wasn't quite yet in sprawl mode, either. And back then you may have spent some time poking around in a library either when you had to or when there were few other options. But in those ten years, those two companies (among others) have picked up the slack where most libraries have completely dropped the ball: they've become viable "third places," or the places where you spend time when you're not at work or home.

Third places aren't anything new, but the concept of a "third place" has become a little more codified and thus increasingly relevant in a day when the average American's time and attention are available in slices as thin as North Beach prosciutto.

Why third places? Well, when you can lock in any human being's time and attention on a habit-forming basis, you've reached a golden moment: on an interpersonal level, we give time and attention to people who matter to us. And on a b-to-c level, we as consumers give our time and attention to companies that have improved our lives in one way or another...and that relationship is acknowledged in the form of long-term revenues.

Suffice to say, the coffeeshops and bookstore retailers have our long-term revenues in mind. They've built environments that are safe, comfy and appealing to a lot of people, and it's obviously paid off for them.

So is it fair for me to criticize libraries for not thinking about "long term revenues" when I say that they've dropped the ball? Not completely, given that libraries are not accountable for shareholder value. But libraries are, to a large degree, accountable to the public for being relevant in our lives. They're the most accessible publicly owned places in the real world that we (as Americans, anyway) have for community gatherings and the larger civic goal of acquiring, sharing and promoting knowledge.

Given that aim -- and given this recent report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy which says most campus libraries are "...outdated, poorly lit, under-financed and depressing 1960's relic that is less attractive than a friends off campus house or local coffee shop" -- I'd say that it's time for many of our civic leaders take a page from their corporate counterparts' playbook and think a little more carefully about today's Third Places, and the role that libraries have in being that Third Place for many of us.

It's either that or cede that larger goal of being relevant for, to, and within our civil society.

Or perhaps we've already done so, and outsourced the whole thing?

( Oct 03 2005, 12:20:15 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]