What exactly defines a library?

Since the gaming topic came up, I have thought about this a lot. My ideas about libraries stem from childhood and then through college, all of which occurred before the internet was anything usable to the average person. I think of rows of shelves, with books nicely shelved, card catalogs, tables and chairs with people reading. There was never any noise in the library, even in the children's section. The library was serious business.

Today, when I go to the library, I still see the books, of course, but there is so much more! Bright colors, computers, rooms with media equipment for small groups, etc. With the electronic age, and all the various types of media available, we have redefined or rather expanded the scope of what one considers information. So there is the question, I guess. Are libraries repositories of books only? or rather of information? I think many, especially those of older generations, would argue that libraries are for books only, or at most books and music.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library gives a great definition of a library as "places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources. More recently, libraries are understood as extending beyond the physical walls of a building, providing assistance in navigating and analyzing tremendous amounts of knowledge with a variety of digital tools." But I think we need to take the definition further and see the library as a place to use that information, to experience what one can do with information. Information on its own is only facts and theories; learning takes that information to a new level and changes the one doing the learning.