Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieTigger
Exposure at the library is going to swap over to what is talked about and bought. I imagine it works both ways. What people buy is in demand, and the library will buy it too. Other way around, if you look in library, see a book you like, and then see a mile long wait list, you can either wait, or buy it instead. It must be a good book if so many others are willing to wait for it. Remove all naughty publishers from library, replace with alternatives, eventually the whole community will adopt (both patrons and buyers).
|
Frankly, it really comes down to what role libraries play. Locally, it seems like a lot of libraries have split their duties quite a bit. The main library downtown appears to have become a combination of a place for people to get out of the weather and a place to access the internet for free. I think they are the main repository of books, but tend to loan those books out to the branches rather than have people come to the main library.
Other branches seem to be focused on what the community around them wants with a lot of focus on kids. That's really the way I remember it when I was a young reader, the library as a combination of research and older novels (with an emphasis on kids books), rather than a place to get the latest/greatest best seller. A lot have extensive children's programs.
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was involved with a book drive at her local library (it was one of the slightly more rural counties), so I donated a few hundred hard backs that I had the replace with ebooks and were just sitting in a closet. This included mostly well known authors and books, including a complete set of Harry Potter hard backs. They were all sold to a book discounter since the point was to raise money, not buy books. That does tell me that many libraries no longer see acquiring books and making those books available to the public as their primary task.