Videos vs. e-books: Guess which is winning at the Denver library
In the early ’90s we said e-books could help reading survive the multimedia onslaught.
Now comes a depressing headline out of Denver: Library books play second fiddle to videos, CDs. Perhaps the Denver library system and others need to borrow a page from teacher Amos Bokros and think about using e-book-related tech in new ways–just as he did to reach book-hating teenagers.
In fairness to the Denver library, it is trying out netLibrary; and, on the Web, the system promotes its electronic text resources well. But that’s not enough.
netLibrary, for example, is obviously a hassle for Denver residents to use. Would you believe, you can browse an e-book only in “15 minute intervals”? And you can check out an e-book from home for only 24 hours. Hardly the best test of e-books!
I also wonder how much help the Denver library system is giving e-book users. Wouldn’t hurt to have a class on PDA use, for example, with e-books in mind. Plus, libraries could arrange to sell memory cards with e-books already loaded in–and work with PC and Mac clubs to help install e-book reading software on people’s PDAs. Used PDAs fit for young book-lovers with good eyes–or for others who care more about words than about how they appear on the screen–cost all of $50-$75 or so.
Given the affordability of the technology, Denver libraries and schools could launch joint fund-raising campaigns with e-books and young readers in mind. Together they could work to get kids the gizmos for reading Jules Verne and Doc Savage electronically–in fact, even the Bobbsey Twins. Cost of the just-linked titles: $0. They’re in the public domain and can be reproduced endlessly for free.
Libraries as e-book-promoters
Do-gooder reasons are why I’m interested in e-books for libraries. But if nothing else, the industry needs to consider the marketing potential here. What better place than a library–with its relaxed atmosphere–for readers to befriend the technology? Public-domain books could whet people’s appetite for commercial titles.
Meanwhile, for a preview of a future without a TeleRead-style approach or even the traditional library one, here is an excerpt from the Denver Post:
The ominous news for book fans is the same: As budget-squeezed public libraries rush to buy DVDs for an insatiable public, branches must act more like multimedia centers and less like temples of the printed page.The relentless boom in information captured on DVD, videotape, CD and cassette tape–not to mention rivers of data flowing into homes on high-speed Internet–has rapidly transformed the way people use libraries. In Denver, 53 percent of all circulation now comes from the audio-visual collections, led by pop music on CDs, Hollywood hits on DVD, and bestselling books on tape.
I’m all in favor of multimedia when used well–for example, the lending of training videos or adaptations of the great literary classics. And video within bounds for simple recreational use is fine. But isn’t Denver overdoing it? How much of this is to keep up the demand for library services to justify budgets and retain library jobs? With so much money devoted to videos, we’re not just talking about the use of them to lure children to libraries and sell them on books. From the Post again:
Most librarians say they aren’t inclined to waste time waxing nostalgic about books. Library credos, local and national, proclaim the goal of providing information to all, with no bias in favor of the book.“The library is about people,’ said Ann Cress, associate director of public services at Jefferson County. “We try to build the collection that our population wants.’
“So many of us are attached to the text, and the paper, and the binding. It’s so tactile,’ said Beth Elder, senior collection specialist for Denver Public Library. “But many of our customers are leaving text behind.”
Time for clueful librarians and the e-book industry to stand up? I’ve already suggested more hand-holding to acquaint readers with e-book technology (and content, too!). What’s more, can’t libraries at least try harder to tie e-books and p-books in with the DVDS and the rest? That at least would help keep reading alive in the p-book era and especially help open up possibilities for public-domain e-books from the free Project Gutenberg collection. Via Gutenberg, libraries could do something much better than just circulate books in the traditional sense–namely, give them away.
E-books in the right contexts
Also, while waiting for the technology to get still better and for the format and DRM questions to be settled, more libraries need to dabble with the lending out of e-book readin hardware to encourage people to get their own. That would be one way to determine which kids really could benefit from their own PDAs.
Whatever the age, context is all. Couldn’t elderly library users benefit from the ability of the technology to blow up letters on the screen? Too, how about the use of special technology for special needs? In his recent essay for us, Amos Bokros told how he was finally reading at a nice clip now–thanks to a mix of digitized text, speech synthesis and highlighted words.
Yes, technology like this and e-books in general will require librarians to introduce readers to it. No shortcuts. Same with paper books, in fact. Enough librarians need to be around to connect the right library users (“patrons” in libraryese) with the right books, whatever the medium. Those are legitimate ways to justify library budgets. But competition with video stores? Absolutely not! This is Carnegie in reverse. Amazon.com for the elite, second-rate Blockbuster for the masses. TeleRead, anyone?
(Found via LISnews.)
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