Libraries are changing. Although they still provide access to information, they also are tasked with teaching new users how to take advantage of available resources. They are expanding their role as community-wide help centers while continuing to be a place for reflection, sharing and learning. Shelves filled with rows upon rows of books no longer are the emblem of the library, whose role is much more proactive, exposing the public to a range of media as well as enabling live access to lectures and community meetings. Public libraries now have community spaces, galleries, resource centers and large, comfortable reading areas. In academic environments, libraries are changing as well. This shift is a direct result of two academic realities: (1) the slow demise of the traditionally published book as the primary source of information; and (2) the increasing demand for more collaborative, social environments for academic study and production. The results of those two trajectories are stunning and amazingly uniform. Education campuses throughout the nation have been restructuring their libraries to become, or at the very least include, the "Learning Commons." The Learning Commons will create new possibilities not only for teachers, but also for parents and after-school functions. Parents will be encouraged to participate in or supervise activities taking place in the Learning Commons, and participants in after-school programs will have access to the area without intruding upon the teachers' workspace. The Learning Commons will be an experiment not just for the school system, but for the entire community. As the 21st-century library evolves, schools can be confident that the Learning Commons will become a unique resource for students, faculty and the world outside their doorsteps.