Whats really important about libraries?

A question was posted by a fellow librarian on FriendFeed today.   Said librarian  posted the following question to folks:

"[Another] Q for non-librarians: which is most important for you in libraries:

1) big collection, 2) lots of good staff, 3) innovative w/ tech?"

Overwhelming response from non-librarians?

They want big collections with easy means of delivering what they want, when they want it, closely followed by technology innovation. Good staff was meaningless (or useless) to them, since libraries aren't about the librarians or the staff.

And I don't think this means they want to go to their local library and expect that it have every book sitting on the shelf waiting, a la "just-in-case".  It means being flexible, creative and innovative in how we deliver services and expectations:

"I guess I would say "big collection" or the easy ability to get what I need from somewhere else in a way that's convenient for me. I generally do everything online when I can, so I don't need lots of staff, though when I do need to interact with staff, they need to be good (and not just do all the things that I just did online to try to fix whatever issue I'm having). Innovative with tech - yes, if it makes things more convenient for me. Otherwise, meh. Self-centered, aren't I? :) "

So what does this mean for librarians? We talk more and more about user-centered design and services, so lets start asking the users what they want, instead of what we think they want.