LIS 688D�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� Jonathan Eaker Article Review   Pennavaria, Katherine. �Representation of Books and Libraries in Depictions of the Future.� ��������� Libraries & Culture 37, no 3 (Summer 2002): 229-46.   ����������� This article took a look at how books and libraries were described by past writers of the future. While at first glace this seems to have little to do with library history, it actually serves two good purposes. Since most authors who write about the future are actually describing their thoughts on the present, it shows us what people were thinking at different points in time. It is also good to look back at what past librarians thought was in store for libraries of the future. Those people were the ones who made today�s library what it is and many of their ideas came to fruition, but many did not. Some guesses about the future library were outright wrong. We can look at why they were right and wrong and use that to analyze our current ideas out the future library. ����������� The author writes how many dystopian future stories have books and information as a major part of the story. Many like Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, tell of a future where books and other information sources have been banned, destroyed, or forgotten, and the world is much worse for it. This is meant as a warning by the authors about how they think current conditions could affect the future. In other stories people who have lived through some cataclysmic event are fighting to survive. They find it important to keep a record of their lives and events for future generations, if there are any. The authors are trying to show that no matter what happens, people will always have an urge to record their events and it is important to do so. ����������� In non-fiction portrayals of the future the library is usually talked about in a very positive way. Many librarians saw the library becoming a place that would be a community center. In many ways the modern library has tried to become that. Some people did foresee the increased importance of the computer for information storage. H. G. Wells imagined a �World Brain� that would connect all the information various institutions have into one organized, easily accessed place. Another man, Vannevar Bush, anticipated a computer that could call up remote databases and print the information almost 40 years before it became a reality. ����������� This article was an informative and amusing look at how libraries and information have been viewed throughout history. Many people think fiction, especially science-fiction, is made up stories, created just to entertain people, but this article shows how it can be used to get across a message. In this case a message about current events and how the author thinks the future could turn out if things aren�t changed. It also gave a good look at what people thought the library would become. It�s pretty amazing to see how right some of the predictions were and funny to see how wrong others were. This article reminds us that people have always wondered and guessed what the future will hold, and if we look at what they imagined, we can help shape our future better.