Tablets and ebooks have all contributed to a worldwide fall in book sales. Now, they’re changing the way libraries work.
At the Bexar County BiblioTech in Texas shelves of books have been replaced by rows of iMacs and iPads. BiblioTech is the world’s first public library which doesn’t contain a single book.
Since it opened at the end of last year, 14,300 people have registered and, on average, the library processes 100 new registrations every day.
Visitors can choose from 20,000 ebooks (the collection will grow constantly) and there are 600 basic ereaders available to borrow, in addition to 200 enhanced ereaders designed for children.
While at the library, visitors can use 48 desktop computers, 40 iPads, ten laptops, four surface tables and several interactive wall screens. The library is the brainchild of Bexar County judge Nelson Wolff.
‘He’s someone who is very aware of how quickly technology is moving,’ said Laura Cole, special project coordinator at BiblioTech. ‘Bexar County is also experiencing explosive growth outside the city limits of San Antonio, which means that people are living farther away from the city’s libraries.
We wanted to create the best, most cost-effective way of providing library services to a population that is geographically distanced from existing services and a digital library was an obvious choice.
Geography doesn’t matter if your library is in the cloud.’
Several universities already have elibraries but there’s a reason why the concept has been less enthusiastically adopted by public libraries, which typically attract a broader range of people, including those who might never have owned an ereader.
‘For certain coursework tasks, students need to work together on group projects and academic libraries are ideal for this,’ said Dr Christine Urquhart, a senior lecturer at Aberystwyth university.
‘But public libraries that brand themselves as a social space but which have only electronic devices would need to offer the “Apple Store” treatment. That is, help to use the devices but not in a hard-sell way and with an emphasis on play.’
However, it appears that swapping books for gadgets has allowed staff at Bexar County’s BiblioTech (who do indeed seem to be fans of Apple-style geek chic) to take precisely that approach.
‘The thing that excites me most is that our staff can dedicate their time to helping visitors,’ said Ms Cole.
‘They aren’t tied up re-shelving, filing and categorising. They spend most of their time providing one-on-one instruction with visitors, teaching people how to use devices and how to source materials. It’s a more interactive library experience.’
And then there’s the cost, or lack of. ‘For the taxpayer, it’s far more economical to build and maintain an elibrary,’ said Dr Robert Schwarzwalder, an associate university librarian for the science and engineering department at Stanford University.
‘Traditional libraries require much larger load-tolerances in construction due to the weight of materials, so are more costly to build. Book collections also require environmental controls that are costly to maintain.’ Not convinced? The BiblioTech cost £1.4million. In nearby Austin, a ‘traditional’ library is being built, which will open in 2016. It will cost £73million.
And, while the electronic devices used by the library might well cost more than a paperback, the library’s founders are confident that this won’t be an issue. ‘Replacement costs have been built into our budget,’ said Cole. ‘We are able to mitigate theft as these devices have no functional value outside our library. They have no internet connectivity. You cannot download additional material to them.
‘Our content disappears after the loan period of two weeks is exhausted. The battery charge lasts for between two and three weeks (the duration of the loan period) and the devices use proprietary charging cords, which aren’t interchangeable or distributed. After the content has been wiped and the battery is drained, the person will find him or herself in possession of a brick – there’s no reason not to return it.’
Ultimately, the use of technology in libraries prompts one question.
‘In the past, the library had a specialised role in providing access to large collections of materials which were expensive to acquire and required time and money to organise and maintain,’ said Dr Schwarzwalder. ‘When those materials are digital, do we need libraries at all?’