Libraries Can't Meet eBook Demand

[Sydney's Mom]

I recently got kicked out of the Chicago Public Library, because they decided not to allow reciprocal borrowers to check out ebooks. And for hardcover books, CPL is a net borrower!

This weekend, I got a call that a pbook I had put on reserve was waiting for me at my local library. This book wasn't available in ebook form. I thought it would feel weird reading it, but I got back into it pretty fast. I was even able to show my daughter I was almost at the end of the book (when I was asking her to go walk the dog and leave me alone so I could finish the last two pages!)

I think libraries need to rethink how they are going to serve the community. Our library is very little, but if you are putting books on hold, either pbooks or ebooks, it really doesn't matter. The only issue with pbooks is I have to wait until an evening the library is open late in order to check the book out. Since our library is so little, why not put 90% of your resources into ebooks, and educate the community? As a matter of fact, my library did just have a program all about ebooks. Just increased the wait time

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I think libraries need to rethink how they are going to serve the community. Our library is very little, but if you are putting books on hold, either pbooks or ebooks, it really doesn't matter. The only issue with pbooks is I have to wait until an evening the library is open late in order to check the book out. Since our library is so little, why not put 90% of your resources into ebooks, and educate the community? As a matter of fact, my library did just have a program all about ebooks. Just increased the wait time

Because they are there to serve the whole community, not just those with eReaders?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Because they are there to serve the whole community, not just those with eReaders?

I'd like to see my library close down several branches, establish key branches as regional centers, reduce staffing, and increase e-content. The future is digital and I want the majority of its acquisition budget spent on e-content.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'd like to see my library close down several branches, establish key branches as regional centers, reduce staffing, and increase e-content. The future is digital and I want the majority of its acquisition budget spent on e-content.

I'm sure you would.
I'm equally sure that people who don't have cars or ereaders would rather have local libraries they can get to, with actual books in.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

I'm sure you would.
I'm equally sure that people who don't have cars or ereaders would rather have local libraries they can get to, with actual books in.

I wasn't aware that there were libraries within walking distance of all those people.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I wasn't aware that there were libraries within walking distance of all those people.

There actually are libraries within walking distance for a lot of people. They're not all placed in the middle of cornfields.

[Hellmark]

And god forbid you still serve the people who have access to but prefer to not use ebooks.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

There actually are libraries within walking distance for a lot of people. They're not all placed in the middle of cornfields.

For some, but certainly not the majority. What about them?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

And god forbid you still serve the people who have access to but prefer to not use ebooks.

Who's advocating a termination of their access?

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Who's advocating a termination of their access?

If you start closing down branches in favor of more online stuff, you more or less doing that. What good is having access, if you now have to go further and further to make use of it?

[SteveEisenberg]

MobileRead seems, to me, skewed to fiction. Nothing wrong with that. I've been reading a lot of fiction lately. But the largest part of most good public libraries consists of a well-chosen collection of non-fiction. When I go to the library, there is a good chance it is for a specific non-fiction topic I want to learn about. Non-fiction library collections also support the learning objective of local middle and high schools.

Amazon, not to mention Overdrive, lacks a library-quality non-fiction collection. So even if eInk reader prices get close to zero, reading on a device still won't, for an unknown number of years to come, match what I get from a good library.

tubemonkey is not going to the only eReading patron who calls for closing library branches. And indifference from people who no longer visit libraries may be a bigger problem. I would not not want to be a public library director over the next ten or twenty years.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Apache

And couldn't this be discrimination against home bound handicapped readers?
Apache

Not just the handicapped but those who are on the road working the majority of time, or are temporarily assigned to various geographic locations.

[catsittingstill]

Speaking for myself, I love my local library; I love that I can check out e-books without leaving the comfort of my home, but I equally love that the library building, and its paper books, are available to people who can't afford e-book readers, and I want that availability to continue. It is *more* important than e-books, much as I love them.

Poor kids need books too. Making them available is plainly a public good; exactly the sort of thing government and taxes are *for*. Absolutely I hope the library budget will stretch to e-books too, but in this era of draconian budget cuts, if the library has to choose, I hope they choose paper.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

For some, but certainly not the majority. What about them?

I believe the majority live in metro areas, within walking distance (2 miles perhaps?).

And.... what about them? Services are better in the metro areas. You want services? Go to where the services are. How did it go in Star Trek? The needs of the many, vs. the needs of the few?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I believe the majority live in metro areas, within walking distance (2 miles perhaps?).

And.... what about them? Services are better in the metro areas. You want services? Go to where the services are. How did it go in Star Trek? The needs of the many, vs. the needs of the few?

I live in the greater Seattle Metro Area and my library is more than two miles away. It's not within walking distance. You'll need a car or public transportation to get there. And that applies to the majority of the people it serves.