Right now, you won’t hear many college students uttering that sentence, but you will soon. That’s one of the conclusions of a panel of experts Herman Miller brought together to talk about the future of academic libraries.

So why do academic libraries have to foster creating—not just seeking—information? Because today’s students are demanding it. They want their experience of the library—indeed every space on campus—to be one of active, collaborative learning.

When learning is active and collaborative—and happens in adaptive spaces—it brings out the creativity in students. They engage at a deep level. And they become creators of information rather than just passive receivers.

Photo courtesy of Duke University

Is a library building even needed? Or, will digital collections make them obsolete? The answer to both questions is yes. Alumni report their most enduring memory of their campus experience is the library reading room, so the building is likely to remain a strong symbol. Yet, as digitization and networks become ubiquitous, the library will be as much virtual as physical.

What work will be like in the library is as much a question as what form the library will take. Will librarians raised on card catalogs and reference desks be able to jump to roaming the library and responding to students’ text messages asking for help? Will a growing need for techies to make things run mean good old customer service gets lost in the transition?

These and other questions are due to be wrestled with in an upcoming report on the roundtable. Reading it should be quite an education.