Mobile Libraries: the 2.0 solution

HarperCollins imprint launches 5th Estate

One of my regular trawls for certain terms turned up this post by Kate Hyde. The post is interesting in itself, and was worth following through to read. Possibly more interesting, though, was the whole premise behind the blog…

The British Library have been doing some thinking about digital books too it seems:
http://www.bl.uk/news/2006/pressrelease20060925.html

Particulartly interesting is their IP Manifesto:
http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/ipmanifesto.pdf

Interesting post, I think before we spend more money improving libraries we should find out how many people actually use them. I wonder whether people are so relatively affluent now that they just prefer to buy books? I am proud to say that I have two library books on my shelves - and they’re only two years overdue! (only kidding) but who else has recently taken out a book from the library?

On another note the library service is not all bad. A couple of years ago I noticed that Camden had 2 videos of Buffy the Vampire Slayer out of the possible 5 seasons available at the time. I suggested they buy the lot and a few weeks later they did. The only problem was by then I’d found a website that sold the DVDs cheaply….

Good comments here!

Absolutely there are more affluent sections of society for whom cheap books and DVDs are easier and quicker than a visit to the local library, but surely part of the point of a library is to open access to reading to all of society, not just those who have the means and inclination to buy? My local library in South London (for which I do have a membership card, and did have a concentrated spell of taking out books a couple of years ago) covers an area with a wide variety of people living in it, and I think it’s important to have books – and therefore the potential for learning a love of reading – available to everyone.

On another note, the (non-lending) reference section of the library can be very handy indeed – which also has photocopying facilities and even short bursts of free internet connection too.

Why keep libraries?
!. Not everyone is affluent.
2. Even if you are you, you do not necessarily want to own every book you read.
3. Through each library’s membership of the interlibrary lending scheme thousands upon thousands of books are available. Brilliant for obscure and out of print books.
4. Librarians and libraries are founts of information. Just look at the thanks to them in the acknowledgements in many books.
5. Brilliant for introducing children to the pleasures of books.
6. Mobile libraries will grow in importance. Modern technology allows them to provide resources that were undreamt of when I worked on them - and right at your door. Plus they are a valuable service for the elderly

And on a much less sophisticated note, libraries are wonderful for the kind of guilty reads you could never justify buying for yourself. I love the anonymity of libraries and the tacit permission this gives you to check out a cheap thriller or unrepentant chick-lit without ever having to justify its presence on your shelf.

[…] Is a few copies of a book being picked up for free and shared a good thing? I think there’s a strong case to be made. It’s not a dissimilar model from libraries, surely? We distribute a number of review copies free of charge to industry insiders, so why not do so with a potential new fan of the author who’ll really appreciate the work and spread the word? […]