End of libraries/renaissance in the “peer-to-peer sharing economy” revolution age? Librarians of the future educating for a sustainable world
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-11-2021-0091 |
| Published date | 12 April 2022 |
| Date | 12 April 2022 |
| Pages | 542-552 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories |
| Author | Jose Rodolfo Hernandez-Carrion |
End of libraries/renaissance in the
“peer-to-peer sharing economy”
revolution age? Librarians of the
future educating for a
sustainable world
Jose Rodolfo Hernandez-Carrion
Department of Applied Economics, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –Libraries face an uncertain situation in present times of the “digital revolution”while every
single sector moved online. The purpose of this paper is to searchand propose potential library actions as
response to the challenge of the peer-to-peer (p2p) sharing platform revolution in business models, a
revolutionto gain efficiency and to protect the environment.
Design/methodology/approach –This research focused on integrating economics and library
concepts based on a selective literature review and real-world interaction. The main concern is to
connect library possibilities with theemergence of p2p digital platforms, which has enabled individuals
to make use of underused inventory via fee-based sharing, as a way of obtaining, giving or sharing
access to goods and services. The authors balance the existing proposals to achieve how librarians can
help.
Findings –This paper defines key types of potential applications for platform business models in the
sharing economy promoted by librariansand describes their characteristics for the renaissance of the “New
libraries”. First, “educating”society to face critically the disruptive change in networks of culture and
information. Second, “growing”as key reference institutions and community service centres integrating
“external”skills.Third, “promoting”the disruptive economy by creation or participationin digital platforms.
Fourth,“creating”cooperative markets through social-economiccurrencies.
Originality/value –This research was carried out with the objective of determining how librarians
contribute to sustainable development. All four proposals to implement represent possibilities that derive
from the sharing economy approach at different levels of implementation according to the degree of
commitmentthat librarians require to translate into specificactions.
Keywords Libraries, Sharing economy, Future, Librarians, Peer-to-peer, Digital revolution
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Libraries face an uncertain situation in present times of the “digital revolution”while
everybody and every single sector moved online, as Anderson (2005) pointed out. Later
Bruccoli (2007), focusing on libraries,wrote his article: “The End of Books and the Death of
Libraries”. Recently, the closure of libraries because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic
limited their role too, and the new scenarios after that reclaim innovation and creativity at
the same time than action and purpose. Haycock (2016) posed thesequestions related to the
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 734855.
DLP
38,4
542
Received8 November 2021
Revised13 February 2022
Accepted8 March 2022
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.38 No. 4, 2022
pp. 542-552
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-11-2021-0091
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