A Library Without Books

[Laridae]

This week's Time magazine features an article about libraries without books in the US. Is this the wave of the future, or just a passing fad?
Will we ever give up printed books? Or are there practical or sentimental reasons why they will be around forever?
Will cost savings drive us toward an all-digital future? Or will we somehow find the money to pay for the printed books we've come to know and love?

http://content.time.com/time/magazin...153094,00.html
(beginning only)

I personally find reading e-books convenient and enjoyable and look forward to a future where more and more books are available in this form.
But I'm not averse to reading a printed book, especially if that's the only form I can get it in.

[meeera]

You might be interested in this thread:

Bookless Public Library Opens In Texas

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222535

[stickybuns]

What happens if a library patron does not own an electronic reading device? Can libraries be expected to have enough ereaders on hand to cover the needs of all of their patrons? If all of the loaner ereaders are checked out and the patron is unable to afford his/her own ereader, is the patron SOL?

I love having access to ebooks through my local library, but it seems to me that an ebook only library is the complete antithesis to what a public library should be.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

What happens if a library patron does not own an electronic reading device?

They can either buy one or borrow one.

Can libraries be expected to have enough ereaders on hand to cover the needs of all of their patrons?

No; just like they're not expected to have enough copies of every book to avoid waiting lists.

If all of the loaner ereaders are checked out and the patron is unable to afford his/her own ereader, is the patron SOL?

Yep

I love having access to ebooks through my local library, but it seems to me that an ebook only library is the complete antithesis to what a public library should be.

ebooks are the future and print is on the way out. That's progress. In the meantime, there's room for both formats.

[stickybuns]

I am fortunate to have the economic privilege that allows me to be unaffected by a policy that frankly smacks of elitism. The main library branch in my city has several hundred visitors per day. Will the library be able to afford enough computers and ereaders for everyone who walks through the door on top of the licensing fees that it will need to pay to the publishers for a finite number of downloads per ebook? Doubtful. I will come out just fine because I can afford other options. I can whip out my personal ereader when all of the ones furnished by the library are gone. I can buy the book if the queue for a computer gets too long. But for someone who is unemployed or living paycheck-to-paycheck these options are unrealistic. Public libraries should serve the public and not just those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to drop $50+ on a luxury item.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

But for someone who is unemployed or living paycheck-to-paycheck these options are unrealistic. Public libraries should serve the public and not just those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to drop $50+ on a luxury item.

How does an unemployed person get to a library? Who pays their transportation costs?

Remember, libraries aren't just for books. Our library taxes also pay for music, videos, and games in numerous formats. What if this same person doesn't like books and prefers videos instead? Who pays for their DVD player and TV?

If the public at large has the right to read tax supported print books, they also have the right to watch tax supported DVDs.

[meeera]

Some people might also be underestimating how many people, yes including poor people, have a smartphone that can read library books (and how many people are happy to read on a phone). Homeless people, even: it's often their only contact method while job-hunting, and therefore basically an essential item.

Either way, though, time will tell exactly how this pans out. If there truly are no borrowable ereaders and the patron doesn't have their own device, I would imagine that they would be able to go in the queue for one, just like they go in the queue for popular paper library books.

I wonder if there are any librarians reading along - how much impact will this have on the ongoing grind of arranging, re-shelving, and weeding paper collections?

[tubemonkey]

I envision a future where firemen set up an ebook library and then burn the paper books

[taming]

In Alberta we have had two natural disasters that greatly impacted local libraries. The Slave Lake fire burned that community's library to the ground and the Calgary flood destroyed thousands of paper books and closed the main library for two months. Digital libraries don't lose books and have to replace them.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by taming

Digital libraries don't lose books and have to replace them.

No the don't lose them in a traditional sense, but depending on the publisher they have to re-buy them after a certain number of checkouts or amount of time (one year for Penguin, 21 checkouts for HarperCollins).

It will be interesting to see how things pan out, but I'm willing to bet that bookless libraries will be a fad this time around and they won't be a lasting fixture in society in my lifetime (and I'm still pretty young).

There are just too many wrinkles to sort out. There are too many books that exist just in print, and will probably never see the light of day electronically. Devices are an issue for the poor and those without the skills to use them. (Even if libraries lend out ereaders, running out of ereaders means that patrons don't have access to any ebooks. Running out of copies of a particular book leaves the option of reading another book.) On the library's end, there is the issue of copyright and restrictions by publishers. Then there are the people who just prefer books.

It would be wonderful if the world could switch to ebooks, but let's be realistic here. We talked about paperless offices decades ago, yet we have yet to go beyond a blend of electronic and paper. There are many reasons for that, but most of them come down to this: technology is rarely as powerful as people suggest and society is an extraordinarily heavy weight to move. Why should we expect ebooks to be any different.

[ApK]

There has been more than one sci-fi story where the only way knowledge was preserved and able to be relearned (short of waiting for a new civilization to rediscover everything from the ground up) was because they still had books, which require no technology but light and eyes to use.
So I hope we continue to have to pBooks.
But eLibraries are nice to have, too.
Surely we don't need to pick only one.

[wawasteele]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Remember, libraries aren't just for books. Our library taxes also pay for music, videos, and games in numerous formats. What if this same person doesn't like books and prefers videos instead? Who pays for their DVD player and TV?

[Laridae]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

What happens if a library patron does not own an electronic reading device? Can libraries be expected to have enough ereaders on hand to cover the needs of all of their patrons? If all of the loaner ereaders are checked out and the patron is unable to afford his/her own ereader, is the patron SOL?

Actually my local library does have a few Chromebooks which people can borrow for a couple of hours to try out. But I think this is more about promoting computer literacy in general, rather than using them as ereaders.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by taming

In Alberta we have had two natural disasters that greatly impacted local libraries. The Slave Lake fire burned that community's library to the ground and the Calgary flood destroyed thousands of paper books and closed the main library for two months. Digital libraries don't lose books and have to replace them.

If the server is in the Library, they lost the books AND the accounts