Great post, Chris. It brought to my mind a couple of thoughts. Firstly, I agree with Robynne that I don’t think libraries and books can or should ever go fully digital. Virtual spaces are great in many ways but they don’t replace the feeling you get while holding a book or perusing a bookshelf. Secondly, your point about teleconferencing made me think – why aren’t more libraries offering teleconferencing services? Libraries typically have internet connections and there are plenty of free video conferencing services these days like Skype. Teleconferencing is like a happy middle ground between web chat and face to face -it’s convenient because you don’t have to travel and you can still use the non-verbal aspects of speech to get your point across.