Libraries and the Digital World

The article found here by Kathryn Zickuhr includes a slide show of the findings of 3 years of study into American's relationship with public libraries.

I find it fascinating! Among the many revealing tidbits in the slide show summary are slides like this one showing the results of their e-reading vs. print book reading habits is especially heartening to me:

The reason I find it heartening is that 76% of American adults (18+) read a book in the past year - 3 out of every 4 adults reads! The troubling part to me though is where public libraries fit into that number. If our usage statistics are any indication, 3 out of 4 Hutchinson residents might be reading, but far less than 3 out of 4 of those are borrowing those books rather than buying them. If this is due to the rise of e-reading, the answer is kinda simple - library ebook platforms are, well, not to put too fine a point on it, "awkward" to use. I'm not going to say anything rude, like "they suck", although that might be a fair assessment; nor am I going to say something paranoid like publishers are intentionally trying to squeeze libraries out of existence to theoretically "maximize" profits.

No, instead, I'm going to say that libraries need to do better in the ebook arena. I'll take the liberty of putting that on our collectively broad public library shoulders and say that we just need to find another way. There are ideas out there - JukePop is one that provides an interesting example of what people are trying to create looking at libraries as partners instead of competitors. JukePop seeks to provide libraries with a ready and easily accessible source of independently published ebooks while helping the authors of those ebooks get editorial, publishing and promotional support.

There are many other initiatives that seek similar outcomes. The thing is that people are still reading, public libraries need to reach out to them and show them, with easy-to-use tools in hand, that we can help.

Further in the article and slideshow listed above is this slide:

Public libraries clearly act, even in this "modern" digital age, as a great leveler. In every single category listed, lower income Americans value public libraries for their services. We must continue to provide the cost-effective, obviously much wanted and needed services, but in the best ways we can, not just the same ways we always have.

Library ebook rights

Sadly, I doubt even this baby step could ever happen in the US, but there is an interesting case working through the EU courts right now involving a copyright case in Germany. It is far from resolved, but the issue is whether or not libraries in Europe can digitize books and offer them electronically.

Here is an article summarizing what's happening.

Basically, the argument is that because of the way EU copyright law is written, libraries can digitize a book in their collection and then make it available to the public on "designated" terminals in the library. The result is that if a patron makes a copy to a flash drive or emails it to themselves or otherwise creates a copy, then responsibility is on the patron, not the library for any copyright violation.

That is a big legal issue, but not much of a convenience, usability, or "freeing of information" issue for people or libraries. The solution to this problem is a payment model that allows sharing of copyrighted information while providing compensation to the intellectual property creators and owners. That is a pipe dream at this point in the process, but it could happen some day - in fact something MUST happen. The person who figures it out will be the equivalent of the creator of the printing press, in my opinion.

Not library-related, but...

Autumn in Kansas (yes, I know, it's still technically Summer):

Chart courtesy of Weather Underground

100-ish today for a high, 54 for a high by Friday.

What Should a Public Library...

I've spent some time wrestling with a title for this post. The reason being is that I think I may have wandered too far afield in my thinking of the purpose, the reason for being, the meaning of a public library.

When I began my library career, roughly 20 years ago, the Internet was truly a novelty. Internet meant text, clunky searching, slow connections, and meager results Libraries were the places where information was collected, organized, and stored. Most people associate great stacks filled with books and quiet nooks in which to study. Back then librarians were the experts; programs focused on reading, culture, and the arts; and authoritative sources of information were organized and ready for researchers. A public library's mission was to provide information to fuel ideas, provide low- or no-cost entertainment, and to educate in a sustaining, life-long way.

Now, two decades later, a public library is a place where people can consult expert librarians and tools, attend programs ranging from story time for toddlers to art exhibitions to Talk20 gatherings for sharing ideas and community building. ...Wait a minute. Are we really doing the same things for which we've always been known? Is our mission still relevant?

So what is the issue? Why do we (as a library) feel like we need to "find our purpose"? I think this identity crisis comes from one source - the patrons who are less and less frequently availing themselves of our services. Are they not reading as much? There is some indication that this is the case. Do people really find the answer they need using Google? Here, let me Google that for you... I think it is simply that we feel like we don't have time to do any "library things" IRL anymore.

What we as public librarians don't really know is, "What do you want from us?" Apaprently, we don't even really know how to ask you that question. If you can find the time to tell me what you want the PL to do, we'll try to do it. I'm not talking about getting the latest season of Game of Thrones on DVD for you, I'm talking big picture what-would-make-us-central-to-your-lives level thoughts here. What makes a public library relevant to its community in our world today?