Needed: Library users groups for readers of e-books—and p-books, too

Note: We’d love to publish a reply from a member of a Friends of a Library-style group. Should library boosters spend less time being boosters and more time lobbying to make libraries more responsive to the public’s needs? – David Rothman

Several months ago, a TeleBlog commenter mentioned the availability of a library card for the New York Public Library for all residents of New York state.

I applied for the free card—the cost is $100 annual fee for nonresidents—and received it shortly thereafter. The holdings include e-books, audiobooks, videos, music, recordings of old radio series, etc. Since then I have read dozens of books from the NYPL collection.

Oddities galore

Unfortunately the farther I get in examining the collection, the more oddities I find. Let me say at this point that, as a former librarian, I am a high-maintenance user. And I certainly have strong opinions about what any well-rounded collection, e-book/audiobook or p-book, should include. In some of my early searches, I found it strange that the online version of the NYPL carried neither Stephen King nor Al Gore.

The library has, for whatever reason, bought incomplete series—in one case, volumes 1,2, 5,6,7. In another, the first three volumes in a series were purchased as e-books, the fourth as an audiobook. One big bestselling author had no titles when I first signed on; now there are ten—all added within a short period of time, and all audiobooks. As a whole the online book collection seems heavily weighted toward audiobooks.

One of the most frustrating things to deal with is the search engine. Some parameters simply don’t work. It is my opinion that if you have search options from which the user can choose, they all should be active. Searches with differing parameters yield disparate results. That makes it all too easy to miss all or parts of a series, some or all of an author’s nonfiction (or fiction) titles. The purpose of a search engine is to return what is there, not simply to verify a particular title.

The positives of the NYPL

Although my comments above are heavily weighted toward the negative, I have spent many hours reading from the NYPL and feel fortunate that I found out about it.

What I would like to see develop is a users group that could discuss issues of collection development, adequate search capabilities, competent tagging of materials so they actually show up in the categories to which they belong, and any other items of interest. Ideally such a group could, in the long term, become a force to be reckoned with in its impact on the libraries selection policies and collection presentation. It’s probably pie-in-the-sky all the way, but I’ve seen odder ideas snowball into endeavors of some consequence.

Moderator’s note: Email me if you write a private reply intended for the author of the above essay. And remember, we’re interested in other guest contributions.

Photo: CC-licensed shot of New York Public Library, by Thomas Hawk.