ABSTRACT
It is almost a cliché to say that the world has become smaller. Advances in technologies of travel and ICTs now permit vast distances (geographic and cultural) to be accessed within hours in real life, and instantaneously in virtual life, resulting in “fundamental changes in the spatial and temporal contours of social existence” (Scheuerman 2010: n.p.). Increased awareness of better economic and educational opportunities in other countries has accelerated the numbers of people crossing borders to live either temporarily or permanently beyond their original homes. Particularly in the Western world, the communities that libraries serve are no longer primarily composed of middle class, homogenous, standard/ national language users. These factors are challenging libraries to be more active in recognizing and serving the diverse needs of their communities. In many places, the majority population have become the minority, and diversity of language, culture, class, race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation is the new norm. In other parts of the world where libraries are just springing into being, long-held traditions and beliefs are being disturbed by an unavoidable inauguration into the information age spawned by the internet, and virtual global mobility made possible by social media and easy access to mobile devices. This means that the future of libraries rests on a shifting ground brought on by these interrelated trends of economic, knowledge/information, and cultural globalization; the explosive development of information and communication technologies; and global migration.
