A public library
with no books? Librarians who look like Apple Store employees? Glistening iMacs
and iPads awaiting patrons on sleek desks, with even more tablets ready to be
checked out by anyone with a library card? If this is the library of the
future, the future is already here. This is BiblioTech in Bexar County, San
Antonio Texas, the country’s first and only bookless public library. The design
makes sense in today’s shaky economic times and with the ever-present possibility
of libraries having to shut down: BiblioTech buys its 10,000-title digital
collection at the same cost as physical books, but millions were saved in
architectural expenses because the library didn’t need to be structured to hold
the weight of printed books and bookshelves.
Plans are
underway for bookless libraries in other parts of the country. And with the
continued popularity of e-books, tablets and dedicated e-readers, it seems that
bookshelves in homes and apartments filled with printed books will become less
and less common. Many who love to read when they travel have marveled at being
able to “carry” scores of books on their iPads and Kindles to be read on the
airplane and by the pool. And what about the ability to instantly purchase a
book in seconds without stepping outside your home? That can be compellingly
convenient in this time of instant gratification. No, you don’t need to trek
anymore to your local record store to buy music and you don’t need to do that
with books either.
But while we
hear about the demise of brick-and-mortar bookstores and witness this happening
in our own communities due to e-books and online sales, many still find it
imperative (and fun!) to browse through a bookstore. And there’s also the curious
phenomenon of new bookstores continuing to open despite the gloom and doom. In
the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, just last year Diesel Books opened a
new branch in Marin County and a new independent bookstore called Village House of Books debuted in Los Gatos. Many established independent bookstores (BooksInc., Book Passage, etc.) here are also still going strong. In the town that I
call home, we have no fewer than five independent bookstores serving a
population of about 15,000.
So what does the
future hold? Will books and bookstores disappear like vinyl, cassettes, CDs and
record stores? I’m not sure. I’d like to hope that print books and e-books, and
online bookstores and neighborhood bookshops can co-exist in some way. Just the
other day I was reading a novel on my iPad that I’m planning to teach in an
upcoming course. But I also bought the paper copy and switched over to reading
that version. I’ll probably mark it up with handwritten notes, which is easier to
accomplish on the paper book. But another thing I found that I especially enjoyed
was placing a bookmark in the book and monitoring my progress of how close I
was to finishing. Somehow eyeballing that physical bookmark was much more
satisfying than reading “43%, 161 out of 371 pages” at the bottom of the Kindle
page.
Do you think that
a bookless world is in our future?
Actually I think there is hope for paper books. You do know that many recording companies have gone back to "pressing" records on vinyl. It appears that with a bit of new technology they can produce better sound.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think there is hope. And I do know that there are a number of people who feel vinyl has better sound than digital for music. But I think still that it's a very small portion of music that comes out in vinyl and for a new artist it would be career suicide, unlike a debut novelist with an e-book. :-)
DeleteThank you for a thought provoking post, Wendy. I hope the forecast for a bookless society is wrong, just like the prediction that radio would serve no purpose after the advent of TV... Just when I think the world is on the cusp of stupidity, common sense intervenes. There is room for both print and digital!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Saralee. Yes, radio did survive TV but it changed drastically. I do hope there is room for both print and digital.
DeleteAre you trying to terrify me???
ReplyDeleteBe afraid, Lauren. Be very afraid. :-)
DeleteHow I love real books!! I hope they never go out of style!!
ReplyDeleteWendy, I'm not sure how I feel about a book-less world. But I certainly did think your post was brilliant!
ReplyDelete