Libraries continue to experience high use but with ever-shrinking revenue streams. How can we continue to fulfill our mission to build life-long learners if we don't have resources to purchase books and materials to support that mission?
I wonder if it isn't in the way of the ancient idea of "library". Libraries were once not only collectors of knowledge, they fostered it by sponsoring the creators of new ideas. That is what is proposed in this article from ALA about the library discovering new authors and helping them to blossom.
I doubt very much that HPL could muster the resources in equipment and staff to make this happen on our own, but there might be a possibility for a consortium of libraries to pool resources and help turn the explosion of self-published ebooks become an explosion of really high-quality ebooks.
(Thanks for the link Sandra!)
Perhaps the library could create and prepare some online fanzines with fan subscriptions to those e-zines.
ReplyDeleteYou could have a mystery e-zine, a sci fi e-zine, etc. Fans could log in for a fee and contribute stories, essays, etc. Just a thought.
Perhaps you could have little mini-conventions that are sponsored as a charitable event to support the library.
I do not know if any of these would work, but perhaps it will stimulate some ideas.