What is a Library and What is a Librarian?
Profession and Institution in Question:

The second article was about a re-envisioned library space for the new Cabot Science Library at Harvard University. The idea is to incorporate the promenade into a "dynamic commons" for learning and collaboration. Also, the renovation will make the library areas more visible and inviting. The plans for a new flexible space sound both progressive and practical to me.
After reading both articles, I hope that more and more school librarians begin to think with vision for the future of our profession and the institution of the school library. I know that many are embracing the learning commons model, and I find this exciting.
What is a Library?
"The library is no longer a warehouse for dead books. ...The library is a house for the librarian." The Future of the Library by Seth Godin
“The notion of a library as a fundamentally social space, where ideas are animated and engaged in collaboratively, is really an ancient idea,” said Schnapp.
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/a-revitalized-science-center/
"A school library without a librarian is like a classroom without a teacher." - ilovelibraries An initiative of the American Library Association
What is a Librarian?
From my favorite source The Urban Dictionary"Librarians wield unfathomable power, bring order to chaos, wisdom and culture to the masses, preserve every aspect of human knowledge and rule the information universe."
Second favorite definition The Future of the Library by Seth Godin"The librarian isn't a clerk who happens to work at a library. A librarian is a data hound, a guide, a sherpa and a teacher. The librarian is the interface between reams of data and the untrained but motivated user."
More about a librarian and libraries
- The Atlas for New Librarianship - book by R. David Lankes
- Jennifer LaGarde's - An Open Letter To Principals (Before You Hire A New School Librarian)
- School Libraries transform learning report
- School Libraries transform learning infographic
- BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey