The future truly is the place where no one has gone before. There seem to be so many trends that we're barely taking advantage of. (And should we?) I feel that especially when I visit Seattle. My family lives on their cell phones - text messages, photos, etc. Meanwhile, like many in northern Idaho, I don't even own a cell phone. I can't use it at home unless I want to make and take all calls in the middle of the road outside my home. And I know from observing my (work) cell phone that I'm in and out of service as I drive up the backbone - Highway 95.

And blogging - we're just catching on but my daughter has had a blog for over 3 years. Are we destined to be playing catch-up in Idaho? I wonder sometimes that by the time we get the technology or knowledge about new trends and ways of doing things that it will already be passe and everyone will be on to something else.

So I guess one of the questions that face us is - what do our patrons want from us? Are we guilty of "techno-lust" - must have technology even if it is marginally (or not at all) usueful? Or techno-bust...

After sitting in the Statehouse listening to the Property Tax Interim Committee, whose charge is to give property tax relief - I can't help but wonder what that means to libraries in Idaho. Or to the notion of public good (my soap box) and the idea that public services are good/necessary for a community.

So I think that we’re at a crossroads - not just for libraries, but for all of us. Will our communities be the type of place that we recognize and want to live in?