 Libraries: For Whom? The Washington Post recently ran an article, “As demands for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves,” the gist of which is that even though it is the fastest-growing segment in the library business these days it is still not enough for demand. And the question is: how are libraries going to use their diminishing book budgets? Even though Maryland’s entire library system more than doubled its inventory in the past couple of years, it has fewer than 10,000 copyrighted e-books available. Meanwhile, the number of e-book checkouts across the state almost quadrupled in that time, to 266,000 last year. In the District, where the library budget has been slashed so much in recent years that the system considered closing its main branch on Sundays, e-book checkouts grew 116 percent from 2010 to 2011. And there were more checkouts in the first quarter of this fiscal year than there were in all of the previous year, said Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian of the D.C. Public Library system. What strikes me but is unmentioned in the article or in any article I've read on libraries and e-books is that how they divide their book budget between print and e-books. That question will be a telling note on how they view their customers. I would wager that most people who want e-books tend to be middle and upper middle class because they are the ones who can afford the devices. Economically disadvantaged readers who depend on the library for access to books are less likely to have these devices. Does that mean that libraries are changing their focus? Does it mean that those who have will have more, and those who don’t have won’t even have what they used to have? Libraries have traditionally served those who didn't have the money to buy books. They opened up worlds to those who otherwise would not have had access. Look at Andrew Carnegie, who really was the father of the American public library system. He was one of those poor children who was given access to books and turned that passion for reading into something tremendous. If libraries today take their much-diminished dollars and concentrate on e-books because the more vocal and influential readers demand them then what price will that ultimately bear for those who truly need the library to read? Isn’t that worth considering? * * * Nicki Leone’s Best Books of 2011 list, now up on BookBalloon’s home page, is good reading. It consists, as she notes, of “books that engaged me, sometimes for days or weeks at a time. I'd find myself thinking about them all the time, arguing in my head with their authors, working out my issues with them. I’ve never had a year where so many books just wouldn’t let me go.” There is no finer kind of reading than that so maybe you’ll find something there too. Several of the books are ones she has written extensively on for her column at BiblioBuffet; just do a search on the titles to find them. Upcoming Book Festivals and Fairs: Location: Boxborough, Massachusetts Location: Eatonville, Florida The Pub House: Imaging Books & Reading: Of Interest: Until next week, read well, read often and read on!
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