First bookless public library system

[TexasTowelie]

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff is an unabashed book lover with 1,000 first editions in his private collection, but even he sees the writing on the wall.

Paper books have lost their allure, and future generations may have little use for them, Wolff contends.

So when he embarked on a mission to create a countywide library system, he decided it should be bookless from the start.

Today, after months of planning, Wolff and other county leaders will announce plans to launch the nation's first bookless public library system, BiblioTech, with a prototype location on the South Side opening in the fall.

More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Bexar-set-to-turn-the-page-on-idea-of-books-in-4184940.php.

[intheflow]

1. Another wrong-headed Texan at work.

A) Print is not dead. The WSJ had an article this week on the subject.

B) Ebooks availability for libraries is severely limited due to publisher reticence and outrageous pricing.

C) Judge Wolff says this isn't meant to be a replacement for local brick-and-mortar libraries but an enhancement. How about donating all the money you've raised for your bookless libraries and give that to the actual libraries for enhancement of their digital collections? Seriously, why reinvent the wheel when the infrastructure already exists to get ebooks in the hands of those who can afford ereaders?

[SheilaT]

2. God, what an awful concept.

How do you browse the shelves of a bookless library to find the book you feel like reading? What if you don't have or can't afford the right kind of e-reader? What if the 100 this library is planning to purchase are all already checked out?

What if you like large format picture books, like atlases?

While ereaders have their place, and it's just fine that libraries have embraced them, doing totally without real books will almost guarantee a drop in actual readership and library usage.

And ebook defenders, you don't need to tell me about how you are now reading more books than ever because of your nifty kindle or nook or whatever. I am absolutely sure that is true for you, and that's a genuinely good thing, but libraries need to serve all of their potential patrons.

Heck, I wonder if that library will bother to have newspapers and magazines that many of us like to go in and sit down and read.

Plus, as I keep on saying, what's everyone going to do when the format changes? Remember eight track tapes? Right. And VHS? Not to even mention Beta.

[kestrel91316]

3. So I take it that there are no poor people or Amish types in that community

who don't have access to computers and internet??

FAIL. Of course. It's Texas.