Reading books: overrated?

What is (or should be) the function of the college library at a state college, in today's technological world? I am the departmental liaison to the library at my institution: that is supposed to mean that I evaluate requests for books, journals and other materials from my colleagues, and funnel them to the library staff. We have a budget of a couple of thousand dollars a year, which seems generous enough (although we are kind of weak in the periodicals area). We can also buy books or videos (teaching orientation) with departmental funds.

I thought, when I took on this task, that building up the library's collection of recent classics in geography - important works that have withstood the fads in the discipline - would be worthwhile. The collection is very weak in newer books (1990s and thereafter), although it's clear that in earlier decades, someone was paying attention to what was being purchased, especially in environment, in planning, and in physical geography (our historical strengths).

B, though, raised some good questions about the function of a college library, 1) in a small state school and 2) given emergent technology.