22 September 2011

naked librarians!!! how will we know...


...IF, dear readers, the library truly becomes naked, meaning without books.

[note: i grew up in new york and i don't ever recall visiting the particular library referenced in the picture. i'm just sayin']

Overdrive announced that it has 11,000 libraries loaning e-books in amazon kindle format.

now, if you have been a constant, considerate reader of this blog, you know we have covered the many ways in which amazon has made their kindle format accessible to the masses. they have kindle reading apps available for smartphones, pcs, and their own specific amazon kindle e-reading device. they even created their own app to skirt around apple's new rule barring companies from allowing purchases within their own apps. (that's another story for another day and, probably, another person's blogger).

yesterday's announcement regarding overdrive, public libraries and amazon is big, Big, BIG!! isn't it? i'll get to that in a moment.

voila! the moment is here. imho, the biggest reason this is a BIG announcement is the accessibility factor coupled with the NAME recognition. public libraries, especially, have already moved toward e-book collections and many (my local greenville county library) included, allow for downloading of e-books and audiobooks to personal computers and mobile devices (iphones, ipods, mp3 players, etc). i have a kindle and now i can read semi-new books for free? and i don't have to leave my chair? i don't have to worry about gas, traffic, remembering my library card, overdue fines (!!). wow!

wow for the patron, woe for the library. but the library started it. they offered, i accepted.

why would a library do that? don't they want to see me? don't they want me to browse? i mean in the library. sure, i can browse online, but the e-collection is not nearly as vast as the monograph collection. and that doesn't even include CDs and DVDs and the juvenile collection. so what gives?

beats me. i guess it's a brave, new world after all. all i know is that i like it. but it still worries me. i feel a little bit of guilt. like i'm contributing to the downfall of the library. the same way i ran the record store out of business. and borders bookstore. and those nice people that used to make floppy disks. and the fairies who made princess phones. *sigh*

is the time of the library passing by? do people really think libraries are just book warehouses for people to borrow books because they're too cheap to buy them?

or is this the natural progression and evolution of "the library?" can a library be virtual and still be a library?

happy reading . . . no matter the format!

thumbs up: the night circus by erin morgenstern (LOVED IT!)
thumbs down: the elegance of the hedgehog by muriel barbery (i couldn't get into it)

1 comment:

  1. Elegance of a Hedgehog- I only finished it for a book club, because I just could not understand why a person would pretend not to be smart. )

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