Reflection on Worldview and the Mission of Librarians

I must admit that I never really wondered what the mission of libraries or librarians was before being my graduate work and reading the Atlas of New Librarianship (2011). People used to tell me that libraries will eventually be a place of the past and that soon enough everything will be digitized. I always replied that there will always be books and therefore there will always be libraries.
In retrospect, that was a very artifact-centric of me. Libraries are much more than books. They mean much more than free computer access and free meeting spaces. These resources exist in libraries for a reason. A librarian's mission is not to watch over the books and computers in the library. According to Smith (2011), a library is a center of knowledge and a librarian's mission is to improve society through facilitation knowledge creation in their communities (p.15).  However, most librarians will not convey this mission and will stand by an artifact-centric view of their profession. I find this a bit disappointing that someone could define their profession by material things.
It is my hope that during my lifetime, we will adopt a worldview of librarianship. I also hope that we may educate the public and correct their misconceptions of the roles of librarians and libraries alike.

Smith, R. David. (2011). The Atlas of New Librarianship, Cambridge: The MIT Press.