I looked at some of the blogs on information management and technology that were listed on Blackboard. One blog that interested me in particular was Helene Blowers' blog 'LibraryBytes.'
http://www.heleneblowers.info/
I was most interested in this blog because she developed the initial 2.0 Learning program which I learnt about in depth last semester. Before discovering Helene's blog I found an article through Trove titled 'Virtual Services on the edge: innovative use of Web tools in public libraries' by Michelle McLean.
Here's a link to the article I read:
http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/fullText;dn=417912633373199;res=IELHSS;org=rmit
It discusses how successful the Learning 2.0 program 23 Things was in training staff in the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County in using Web 2.0 tools. Staff were exposed to a range of these tools over a nine week span, some of which included RSS and blogging. The program inspired other libraries to draw on the program to the extent that by 2008, 200 libraries had adopted it.
Reading some of Helene Blowers' blog entries I was interested in finding out the aftermath of this program - how much it has developed since 2009, the year of Michelle McLean's article.
On the homepage it had a link to this blog which details more about the Learning 2.0 program: http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com.au/ I don't think the blog has been updated since 2007 though. According to one of Helene's blog entries, where she gives an update on this program 23 Things, the program has impacted on a global level, being replicated worldwide, in 15 different languages and across over 700 organisations. Her blog contains embedded links to presentations she has given which feature an array of fascinating quotes and statistics. In particular, one presentation features many quotes by various famous people on what their definitions of a library are. Going through each slide, here are some of my favourites:

"A library is not simply a repository of books, it is the symbol and center of our culture - a door and a window for those who might not otherwise have such doors and windows" - Amy Tan, author
- For me, this quote really encapsulates a sense of the library as a place which is able to open up opportunities for people - opportunities for people to experience culture through reading. Author Judy Strong encapsulates a similar idea in this definition:
"A library is both comfort food and inspiration, opportunity for growth, and the place where anyone can come for personal enrichment." 

"Libraries: cafeterias for food that feeds the mind." - Louise Yelin, author.

"Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination" - Sidney Sheldon, author
On a similar note, there is this quote by author Heather Barbieri:
"Libraries are places where the imagination begins."

"A library is a true fairyland, a very palace of delight, a haven of repose from the storms and troubles of the world." - Avebury

"A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life." Norman Cousins, political journalist and author

"A good library is a place, a place where the lofty spirits of all nations and generations meet." - Samuel Nig. From this quote I get a sense of the library as being a communal environment which brings people from across all nations together.

And then there's this quote by Melvil Dewey, inventer of the Dewey Decimal System: "A library's function is to give the public in the quickest and cheapest way information, inspiration, and recreation. If a better way than a book can be found, we should use it."

I enjoyed reading these quotes which were outlined on the presentation embedded on her blog. They gave a sense of libraries as being sources of information and providers of opportunities, and places where imagination and creative ideas are born.