#20

Books are still circulating quite regularly where I work, and I can't imagine that changing anytime soon. At this point it's still a matter of convenience and cost (or lack therof) for patrons. If every patron could have an ebook reader of some kind, and be able to download everything they need from the library, then they would do it. Wouldn't you? I would.
Obviously, the infrastructure (legal and otherwise) is not in place to do this yet, not to mention that ebook readers are still prohibitively expensive for a number of people (although, as with all technology, things are slowly leveling off). Will the library of the future just have shelves full of ebooks pre-loaded with entire collections? Not until they become durable enough to handle public abuse for years and / or be mended whenever the need arises.

Now, I am a huge fan of books as a physical object, but I think unless something about the presentation or formatting is particularly unique (think Mark Danielewski, or the 21 x 16 inch Kramers Ergot 7), the book is just a text vessel. It's just a matter of time before we figure out what the superior vessel is: paper or a screen.

I really enjoyed this piece from earlier this year about how good design will keep books relevant by taking advantage of their physicality, and allowing the iPad to take advantage of it's digital-ness.

This "thing" was a little thick and I didn't really want to wade through all of the different sites listed. I'll try to rip through some of it at least.

-Who on earth would want to read whole books (and by the looks of it, only public domain books) on their regular, tiny-screened phone?

-If you begin looking at / for reader's advisory sites, you will never stop. I tend to prefer sites that have actual lists rather than clever ways to try and lead the user to new books. Just give me some recommendations and send me on my way, don't make me jump through hoops for it! To look up books in a series I use Fantastic Fiction and it works quite nicely.

-I admire the motivation behind that LibriVox thing but I wonder how (or if) they vet the volunteer readers? Without some kind of screening / quality control you could end up with some really terrible audio versions of some books.

-I came across a book swap called Yours Mine Ours not too long ago, which I like because it is focused on art and design books, but I don't like it because the layout is kind of sterile and uninviting. A bit too...arty. Figures.