Introduction

The digital era has brought profound challenges and opportunities to countless institutions and industries, from universities to newspapers to the music industry, in ways both large and small. Institutions that were previously identified with printed material-and its attendant properties of being expensive, scarce, and obscure-are now considering how to take on new roles as purveyors of information, connections, and entertainment, using the latest formats and technologies.

The impact of digital technologies on public libraries is particularly interesting because libraries serve so many people (about half of all Americans ages 16 and older used a public library in some form in the past year, as of September 2013) and correspondingly try to meet a wide variety of needs.1 This is also what makes the task of public libraries-as well as governments, news organizations, religious groups, schools, and any other institution that is trying to reach a wide swath of the American public-so challenging: They are trying to respond to new technologies while maintaining older strategies of knowledge dissemination.

In recent years, public libraries have continued to add new technologies and formats to their holdings, with the goal of providing patrons resources in whatever form they prefer. Many libraries have also expanded into community […]