Jessamyn West at librarian.net has a neat little post about unofficial campaign ads in the middle of subject lines ballyhooing pirated books on Usenet. “Maybe,” she jokes, “ebooks are good for something.”
Try “Keeping libraries alive for the long term.” Right now, yes, demand is heavy in many cities. But how about the future as more and more young people grow up accustomed to reading off screens? And who says that the young are the only ones waking up to the advantages of electronic text?
Fled libraries for B&N
Yesterday a new acquaintance, a retired Ph.D. in his 80s was telling me how he no longer visits his public library so regularly. Instead he frequents a brightly lit Barnes & Noble with a constantly changing selection of fresh new books. That’s where we were, discussing the possibility of bringing e-books into a local retirement home, where the residents are shunning the tired, unchanging collection of p-books.
I brought along an old Gemstar e-book-reader and Sony and Dell PDAs; and he could read easily off them all, though the Dell was his favorite.
The library angle
So how does this relate to libraries? Well, suppose that libraries could devote less of their space to physical books while increasing the selections available, via the e-books–and venture into print-on-demand books as well. And suppose that like B&N, more of them experimented with coffee shops and other amenities. More importantly, e-books could help free some funds to go for intensive mentoring and guidance of young people and other patrons. Remember, the expense isn’t just from the books, but related activities such as shelving.
No, public libraries are not about to fold up and die tomorrow. But they will in the future if planners don’t look ahead.
The Jessamyn West angle on libraries and tech: “I like having a library job–and this library is one of the best in the state–but I remain deeply critical of what I see as the real Achilles heels of libraries in general: failure to innovate and ‘get’ technology, failure to ‘think outside the box’ and creatively address issues and problems, failure to make the patron the one who gives your job meaning.” Let’s hope that “innovate” includes the introduction of e-books among the alternatives. The idea isn’t to replace p-books overnight–they’ll always be around–but to adjust to a wired era where even some octogenarians are starting to give up on public libraries.
