I love libraries. Always have, always will. But I worry about their existence in the age of digital distribution, though not to the extent of traditional brick and mortar bookstores.

The argument that libraries, if not doomed, face a very challenging future goes something like this: In an age when every book, song, movie, magazine, and newspaper will be accessible by your computer at home, or an eReader you carry, why would someone need to visit a physical location?

Granted, not every piece of media I list above is yet available for digital distribution, but they will one day be. What, then, makes a library necessary? Or, what will make libraries necessary? More provocatively, will libraries actually be necessary?

I'm going to make some enemies here when I say no to the last question. They will not be necessary. But that's not a bad thing. Hear me out.

The term 'necessary' relates to necessity. A need. But ask yourself this: would you rather need to go to a library, or want to go? I know what my answer to that question is. And, I believe, so do those library professionals who are looking down the road to assess what they need to be, or become, in order not just to survive, but to thrive.

A lot of talk has surfaced about 'value-added' service as it relates to bookstores surviving the revolution brought on by digital distribution. One could make the same suggestions about libraries. I may even have. But I think there is one thing that will, and can, and in many cases already is laying the foundation for the survival of the library.

The librarian.

The best librarians I've encountered, both in person and through virtual interaction, have been those who exude a complimentary mix of persona and passion, particularly where their youngest patrons are concerned. They become ambassadors not of books, but of excitement. They push knowledge, not paper products.

I remember exactly this type of librarian from my childhood, and through the ever-expanding circle of people I know 'virtually' I've been pleased to find others. One in particular is Rita Meade, who I 'met' on Twitter. Her handle there (@screwydecimal) should give you a hint that this is no rigid, cringe-inducing librarian of yesterday's popular culture. How do I know this?

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That's Rita on the right in this image courtesy of Save NYC Libraries. She dresses up like a Zombie not for her job, but for her calling. And if you read any of her posts on Twitter or her blog, you'll find a mix of the irreverent comments about less than kind patrons, and touching snippets of her interactions with a library's most precious commodity--children.

She is the kind of person who makes you WANT to go to the library. The kind of person who makes children beg their parents, 'Please, can we go see Miss Rita today?! Please! Please!'

She, and those who make libraries a place of fun and wonder, are the hope for their future.

But what else can be done in an age where the budgets just aren't there to fund every library to the extent that they have been? What sort of arrangement can be made that would 'reward' places where the Rita Meades of the world go above and beyond to make libraries a destination, not just a building?

I have an idea. It's crazy. It takes giants like Amazon and Barnes & Noble and eBook distributors to partner with willing authors, and it goes something like this: bring your Kindle, your Nook, your iPad, your eReader of any kind and purchase your books using the WiFi of your favorite library. You'll save 10% off the top from the advertised price, and another 10% of your purchase will go directly to THAT library. You get your book, Amazon and its kind get their sale, the author gets a reduced cut, and the library suddenly has a revenue stream.

This would take all kinds of machinations to work. Maybe the biggest would be the author agreeing to take a 20% cut, or the distributor and author splitting that. But what comes from that is a helping hand to help nurture the next generation of voracious readers.

As an author, let me be the first to say, I'd agree to that in a heartbeat.