Todays libraries are very different from the ones of the past. Electronic resources and Internet-accessible collections and services have dramatically changed libraries, and there is no going back.

It is expected that libraries will continue to change.

The library of the future could look quite different from what we know today. Some science fiction films have depicted the library of the future as a cold, sterile space where all information is accessed through a computer. In other visions, robot librarians guide users to requested information.

Libraries on the West Virginia University campus may not look like a Star Trek set by 2010, but they will definitely see advancement from today. What will those changes be?

Now is your chance to prognosticate.

The WVU Libraries and Office of the Provost are sponsoring a contest in which students, faculty and staff predict what the WVU Libraries will be like in 2010.

Libraries are changing all the time, and the way our users interact with us changes as well,Libraries Dean Frances OBrien said.Will we be sending content to cell phones? To peoples cars? Can e-books be made attractive and sensory enough for people to enjoy reading them? Can we link library resources to television programs?

Provost Gerald Lang believes that correctly predicting the big changes at the WVU Libraries will be difficult. For example, he pointed to the Librariesmembership in the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc. , which provides users access to more than 26 million titles at a network of about 50 libraries. While PALCI has had a big impact on library users, no one could have envisioned the partnership a few years ago.Were hoping to get more people to think about how we use our library resources and what should those resources be,Lang said.If done well, they have an opportunity to realize a $1,500 prize for their effort.

Entries will be judged as to how well each contestant predicts the WVU Libraries of 2010, including the innovative use of technology to meet the library needs of WVU students, faculty and scholars. Entries should be extremely forward looking, but technologically feasible for 2010somewhat bizarre yet plausible. Entries should be between 250 and 1,000 words.

There are three categories for entries: WVU students, WVU faculty/staff outside the Libraries and Libraries faculty/staff. Prizes will be awarded in each category: first place, $1,500; second, $1,000; and third, $750.

Entries will be sealed and then opened in fall 2009 to be judged by a panel of three prominent librarians outside WVU . The panel may choose to make no awards in any category. Winners will be invited to campus in fall 2009 for a library conference.

All entries received are also entered in a drawing for $100 gift certificates to buy books at the WVU Bookstore. Three gift certificates will be awarded in May 2005. Deadline for entries is May 1.

On the Net:www.libraries.wvu.edu/imagine