Data Reinvents Libraries for the 21st Century

Today libraries are proving they’re more than mausoleums of old knowledge. They’re in a state of progressive reform, rethinking services and restructuring with data. It’s a national trend as libraries modernize, strategize and recast themselves as digital platforms. They’ve taken on the role of data curator for information coming in and citizen-generated data going out. They host civic hacker hubs. They serve as booming e-book distributors. They provide digital clinics for aspiring technophiles. It could be called a refresh to a retro institution, a data movement that’s growing organically in spurts. And data is a common thread running through all of these services.

Nate Hill is among this band of progressives. As a data zealot who believes in data’s inclination for innovation, the former deputy director for Tennessee’s Chattanooga Public Library, led a charge to transform the library into a data centric community hub. For libraries, Hill sees this as an opportunity and asks what institution can better pioneer the new frontier of information exchange.