I stumbled across this intriguing 2007 lecture by John Leslie King, W.W. Bishop Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. King has some fascinating observations on libraries, colleges and technology. What stuck with me were his ideas about how libraries are positioning themselves – stupidly, in his view – as cultural centers (which spend $) instead of knowledge/skill centers (which generate $). A lot of public libraries are rebranding themselves as centers of culture; maybe they should be concentrating more on touting the job-seeking help, information literacy assistance, and other skill-set training they provide.