By Briana Thornton
briana.thornton@insidebiz.com
First the big chain stores overshadowed the small independent stores. Think Tom Hanks' Fox Books forcing Meg Ryan's Shop Around the Corner to close in the 1998 romantic comedy movie "You've Got Mail."
Now the chain stores are vanishing as Amazon brings the convenience of book-buying from home.
Once thought to be going down the same bleak path as traditional bookstores, libraries have rebounded and embraced a new identity.
"It's not your grandmother's library anymore. We are totally different," said Eva Poole, Virginia Beach director of public libraries.
"Our library has shifted from a repository for books and other materials to a platform for learning and participation. We now have the ability to provide digital technologies so that customers can create content instead of just coming in to borrow content. We are fully engaged in an increasingly digital life."
Public libraries are finding that their role has shifted as a simple "building with books" becomes less relevant to a technology-fueled U.S.
Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project shows that while many patrons still use libraries to borrow books, there has been a shift toward libraries serving as community spaces that provide access to technology for all demographics.
Reflective of the trend, Virginia Beach's libraries have increased their services. Patrons now have access to technology training, general computing skills, website development courses and emerging technologies such as 3D printers.
"We assist job-seekers with important employment resources by providing workforce development programs in our libraries," Poole said.
"With the assistance of volunteer job coaches, we help job seekers learn how to use employment databases. We have programs that aid them not only with online applications but also with interview skills."
According to statistics provided by Christine Brantley, Virginia Beach Public Library's community relations and development manager, there has been an increase in library card holders, in accessing electronic resources, and in checkouts, from 2010 to 2015. Poole has credited part of this increase to the rising popularity of e-books, the downloading of which has increased from 25,032 in 2010 to 362,057 in 2015.
The library recently expanded. After closing the Rosemont branch, all resources went into the Joint-Use Library, a collaboration between the city of Virignia Beach and Tidewater Community College, on the school's Virginia Beach campus.
"Our brand-new joint-use library with TCC has enlarged the capacity of what we were able to do at the Rosemont branch," Poole said. "It has a wonderful youth area, access to computers and everything the college provides."
Although the library of today might have a different look and goal here and across the country, it remains a community staple.
"I think we will continue to define the scope of what we do," Poole said.
"The library is involved in recognizing that we stay relevant when we provide program and service offerings around our community's priorities.
I think it's going to be more important for us to collaborate with government agencies at the local, state and federal level around shared objectives. This would include partnerships with schools to drive learning and educational opportunities throughout the community."