Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

re: Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

MissB — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:33:08 GMT

Here in Chicago I can renew my books and DVDs online. So I rarely have to rush to the library or pay a late fee.

re: Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

Lucy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:15 GMT

There have been beautiful libraries being erected recently that are architectural and technological wonders. Recently, we went to the one in Seattle and San Francisco. They are huge gathering places for the community. Library cards and patronage have actually been increasing in the past couple of years. As a former teacher, I love how libraries are the great equalizer in letting people of all socio-economic free access to knowledge.

In Texas, you can get a free TexShare card and can go to any library in the state. My son and I go to the library at least twice a week for Lapsit and once a month for the La Leche meeting. And if my husband is working at home, I can even attend the knitting group. We love the library.

re: Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

Jake — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:58:52 GMT

Hmm-- it's an interesting question, and one with much more urgency given the general decline of readership in the United States. I suspect that if the majority of people read frequently, this kind of business wouldn't have attracted a blip of anxiety from library-goers. It's only because we readers are beginning to feel like an endangered species, with libraries and corporations fighting over the last scraps of the literary audience, that we start talking worriedly about the library's role as a social institution.

Without that sense of panic, though, I don't see how a company like this threatens the libraries' survival, or even encroaches on the same territory. An Amazon sales rank limit of 20,000 is fairly narrow, you're right-- it sounds as if they're going for the James Patterson Danielle / Steele, which admittedly is where the money lies in books these days. I don't see that kind of audience, the pop-literature airport-novel crowd that shops for books in Walmart, as a frequenter of libraries. The literati and people interested in books beyond bestsellers and wouldn't defect from the libraries to BookSwim anyway.

In the end, I don't see online book rental as any more of a threat to libraries than Book of the Month clubs or used bookstores. If anything, I'd imagine an online book rental site would increase the reading audience by making books more conveniently available, and perhaps cheaper for fast readers. Not the Lolita & Last Temptation of Christ readers, perhaps, but at least other people engaged with the written word who can't otherwise get themselves to a cheap, quality selection that's open during their free time.

re: Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

BBBGMOM — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:24:15 GMT

I love the public library. I go there at least once a week with and without my children. I would be heartbroken if libraries became obsolete. I still see teenagers huddling at the tables with their backpacks the way we did 20 years ago... It's an institution!

re: Will Libraries Go the Way of Video Stores?

Sara — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:02:55 GMT

I work at a library, though in a slightly different situation as it is a University library (http://library.plymouth.edu/). I will say though that this particular library has done an excellent job of keeping up with patron's needs. We've got lots of computers and internet access, books galore (we are constantly expanding our collection), a very active inter-library loan department, and enough technology available to keep even the biggest technology hungry patrons busy. I think that for most libraries the challenge is keeping up with patron's technology needs as well as hanging onto the tried and true feel of a well-stocked library. Book sites may appeal to some audiences, but I think that the tactile experience of flipping through books will keep libraries around for the foreseeable future.