Quote:
Originally Posted by morriss003
The whole concept of a public library needs to be redefined. Rather than building a building to house a library, it makes more sense in the digital age to rent many small spaces in public businesses, like MacDonalds and have readers available. Yes, this concept is simplistic. Feel free to expand.
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Can those ereaders be checked out somehow so that people can take then and then drop them off later at, say, the ereader kiosk in Starbucks? Do those kiosks have a computer terminal with research technicians or librarians to assist them? Will they have print editions of books that haven't been digitized yet because doing so is of dubious legality, or because some people just don't like ebooks? What about periodicals, or ILL services to another kiosk/library in the next town over that has something the patron wants but can't access because they're from a different state/county, or they just don't have transportation?
eReader kiosks are a nifty idea, but they can't realistically replace library services yet.