E-books and e-book readers were a hot topic this holiday season - Barnes and Noble rolled out it's Nook e-reader; Amazon.com reported that on Christmas Day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more e-books for its Kindle e-reader than bought physical books, and the blogosphere has been buzzing for months about Apple's rumored introduction of a "tablet" computer that will purportedly be to e-readers what the IPhone was to cell phones.
Earlier today our Digital Services and Marketing Manager, David Campbell, and I were talking about all of this. Our primary e-book supplier, Overdrive, is now compatible with Apple's ITunes, several Sony e-readers, and the Nook as well as the older MP3 format, and the Nook website is directing customers to check out the e-book offerings of their local public library.
In the near term David and I agree that we need to invest more heavily in e-books (both audio and text) for our collection, and more seamlessly integrate our e-book offerings with our website and online catalog. Longer term, though, I can't help but wonder what the implications are for libraries.
That's why I found this post from the Go To Hellman blog (thanks to George Needham of It's all good for sharing) so thought-provoking. His premise is that the shift from physical to digital collections will drive the consolidation of library systems as communities become less willing to invest in physical collections and large buildings to house them when access is available electronically, people become more accustomed to home delivery of physical items (a la Amazon.com and Netflix) and as larger library systems are more able to muster the financial and technical resources needed for these new delivery models.
As a follow on he predicts that while the number of library systems will shrink, the number of physical library locations will grow as small, conveniently located storefront branch libraries are set up to offer access to computers and terminals for accessing digital content/downloading e-books, etc as well as a convenient pick-up location to enable customers to collect pre-ordered physical items (Mr. Hellman doesn't say this, but I would add that these storefront libraries could also offer programs such as story times, book groups, gaming, etc. very much as PVLD's Annex does today).
Much of what Mr. Hellman predicts is consistent with the conversations we are having, and in some cases the actions we are taking, here at PVLD. While we have not contemplated merging PVLD with another library (and I confess that this idea is one I instinctively dislike) we are part of a cooperative library system that last year merged with two other regional cooperatives to enable greater sharing of resources across the Los Angeles, Orange, and parts of Ventura counties. Our Annex is a variation on the store front library model and we have had at least preliminary conversations about whether the concept could be deployed elsewhere in our community such as in the Miraleste village shopping area to relieve pressure on the overcrowded Miraleste Library. David Campbell has pushed the idea of delivering materials by mail for a couple of years now, and while we have yet to come up with a feasible economic model we have not given up on the idea. And we certainly are investing substantial time, money and energy in beefing up our digital collections and improving how the community can access them.
All of this makes me think that Mr. Hellman is on to something, but I'd love to know what you think!
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