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With more and more readers using 21st century tools such as iTouchs, Nooks, and iPads to grow their reading collections, it makes you wonder what will happen to our beloved public libraries? Will public libraries make the shift into the digital age and offer "ebooks" for check out? Will they stand by in denial rooted in the 20th century with their print copies of books?
Blogger, Audry Watters address this in a recent post for The Read, Write Web; "The American Library Association (ALA) has just released its 2011 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey, and among its findings, 67% of public libraries in the U.S. now offer free access to e-books for their patrons." In light of this survey it looks as if our public libraries are making an effort to survive the onslaught of 21st century technologies that change the way we read books.
The ALA has set forth a few goals to work towards to make its transition into the digital age smoother and easier. These goals include working with publishers to make some titles "Always Available," making magazines available for digital checkout, merging area libiaries' collections of "ebooks" for a larger resource, and offering digital checkouts specifically for Barnes and Nobles' Nook. (Watters, 2011).
The new technology resources of the 21st century has changed almost every aspect of our lives from public education, media and news, public safety and even our reading selections.
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Works Cited
Watters, A. Is This The Tipping Point For E-Books and Libraries?. Retrieved June 27, 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_this_the_tipping_point_for_e-books_libraries.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
I agree that many readers are choosing 21st Century tools as their media of choice, but it almost seems like these tools are growing in addition to traditional print choices, rather than instead of traditional print choices. Look at the continued popularity of book stores (Barnes and Noble), magazines, and newspapers. It seems to be the "big" guys that are flourishing, though; the small mom & pop operations don't seem as prominent. Maybe it is because the print media business has to be able to change with the times, and offer digital choices as well as traditional. I'm not sure what this means for libraries who only offer traditional media. But still, there's something to be said for cuddling up on the couch with a "real" book in your hands!
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