Understanding Rural Change

The USDA tracks job trends in rural America. The organization published a report that noted a drastic switch from farm related occupations to those in the service industries. By 1997, over half of all rural workers were engaged in the service sector. Percentages of those actively engaged in farming activities were cut in half in the decades leading up to the publication of this study.
This switch to a service based model includes new focus on technologies and leisure activities, which speaks clearly to the special offerings and skills of librarians. As libraries are known to be on the cutting edge of evolving technologies and education, the stage seems set for a resurgence in the importance of the rural library in the lives of a populace that is seeking direction in a new economic paradigm.

USDA. (1997, June). Understanding Rural America . Retrieved December 4, 2009, from United States Department of Agriculture: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib710/aib710c.htm