Ivy’s Vine

An E-Book Only Library

September 8th, 2009

Cushing Academy has decided that they don’t want any more books in their library.  They’re switching entirely to e-books.  Now, I love e-books as much as the next person.  I jumped onto the bandwagon when the Rocket was new.  Whenever possible, I buy the e-book version of novels or other books that are well-suited to that format.

That sentence contains my two major hesitations about this project–”whenever possible” and “well-suited to that format”.  Some books require color illustrations, and that’s not suited to the modern e-reader.  Some books require you have a finger in each of three or four pages at a time, flipping between them.  You need paper for that.  Many books aren’t out in e-book format just yet.

I don’t think this project is being done intelligently.  They’re installing large screen T.V.s to project data from the Internet.  What kind of data?  That would be a lousy way to read text, but fine for videos.

Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.

This really worries me.  A library, especially a school library, needs a reference desk, and not just for finding books.  If a student needs a book that’s not available as an e-book, or isn’t available in this library as an e-book, they should be able to go to the reference desk to ask about an inter-library loan.  Even something that basic is missing from this model.

They are supplying their students with 18 e-book readers, some Sony and some Kindle.  That’s it for the whole school.  The rest of the students are expected to read entire volumes on a backlit computer screen.  The eye is not built to stare into a light all day long.  This is n0t only tiring to the eyes, it’s damaging.  The whole point of eInk devices is that they’re not backlit and therefore don’t cause the kind of damage computer monitors do.

It’s a job half done.  With paper books 100% of the student population can have a book from the library at any one time.  With e-books, 18 students can have a book from the library at any one time.    Replicating the availability of books would be an enormous expense.

I love that the library carries e-books via OverDrive.  I love that Sony is now partnered with OverDrive to support those books on its reader.  E-readers aren’t ubiquitous yet.  This is still an early-adopters device, and there is a lot of hesitation from a lot of people on the possibilities of the device.  Some are silly “I like the smell of a book”.   I’m not a fan of sniffing mold and silverfish thanks.  “I like the feel of a book”.  That holds for reading on a computer, but an e-book device is more comfortable than a paper book.  Some are sensible.  “I like to lend my books” and “I like to read in an environment where the book or device would be damaged”–in the bath or on the beach.

Ultimately, I think e-books will take over, but I think that’s going to be a matter of technological evolution, the way MP3 players have replaced the tape players, records, and 8-track cassettes that preceded them.  I think it’s a poor idea to force the change too quickly and in an ill-designed manner.

Entry Filed under: Reading