We were just at the library the other day and the shelves were sparse. The branch was remodeled recently but it is still an airless, hot, uncomfortable environment. The days of wandering the shelves for surprises, and thereby gaining a physical sense of the variety and depth of human knowledge, is gone. Instead computer carrels and magazines dominate. There is a good third of the library devoted to children's books and a third of that is for "activities".
This article says a librarian thinks ebooks will save libraries.
Fiona Marriott, at Luton Libraries, said: "In recent weeks the number of ebook downloads has been increasing fast, and there are people emailing us from all over the country and even abroad asking if they can join as members online."
She said there had been a sharp increase in members, as a result, with more than 250 new users signing up, even though only local residents could join the service. Other librarians agreed more people had become members since e-books became available, though no official figures are yet available.
Ebooks do allow insta-distribution — a truly democratizing trend. Why can't we have both? Libraries, books, ebooks — they resolve to the future.
Speaking of ebooks, here is a PDF of 25 Secrets of the Muse — a book of creative strategies.
