At work we recently received an email that talked about some changes coming to our library policy, and our director sent us each a copy of this article:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/892402-264/warner_home_video_imposes_28-day.html.csp
Everyone was really (understandably) angry about this development, and I see it as one more way that public libraries need to learn to adapt to new models of business. Although this clearly violates the first sale doctrine, it seems that libraries are continually left behind and must learn to fend for themselves, no matter what the rules. But again, I think that this needs to be brought to the public awareness so people can actually do something about it. If people knew what was going on behind the scenes, and how they were being forced to wait to borrow a copy of something simply because a vendor wants to make more money off of them, I think they would be angry! But until something is said about this, I don't think things will change.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Library Cuts
So I am going to start this entry by posting this link to a story I was reading over a break.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/can-the-american-library-_n_1096484.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl18|sec1_lnk2|113415
The Huffington Post is doing this whole series of articles about libraries in crises, which I thought was interesting, but sort of misguided. As regards libraries in a physical sense, yes, maybe, but not as a concept. The article talked about libraries losing funding because, with economic times as they are, when it comes to budget cuts, libraries are seen as the easy answer. But as Maureen Sullivan (president of the ALA) points out, people don't realize how much they need the library or utilize its services until it's gone! Although I think she is trying to make a different point about the importance of libraries in a community, this type of statement actually lends itself to the argument (in my opinion) that libraries aren't doing enough. I know personally that the library at which I work just reviewed its budget for the next year, and we are dealing with severe budget cuts that will greatly impact patrons directly (e.g. our budget for new books has been cut by 40%), but when it is put into practice, patrons will simply complain about how the library isn't doing enough or they never have anything good to read anymore (some people actually do say this). Sometimes I wonder why the people I work with are not more outraged at the fact that libraries are so short changed. Instead they just deal with it and make very little fuss over the issue. Maybe that is the real problem with libraries: the people who work there are not as passionate about it as they should be. I'm not saying that if everyone in public libraries suddenly decided to quit their jobs in protest, libraries would be better off. But maybe more people in the community would take notice, and we wouldn't have to wait until it was "too late" to look back on what we used to have, and what we are now missing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/can-the-american-library-_n_1096484.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl18|sec1_lnk2|113415
The Huffington Post is doing this whole series of articles about libraries in crises, which I thought was interesting, but sort of misguided. As regards libraries in a physical sense, yes, maybe, but not as a concept. The article talked about libraries losing funding because, with economic times as they are, when it comes to budget cuts, libraries are seen as the easy answer. But as Maureen Sullivan (president of the ALA) points out, people don't realize how much they need the library or utilize its services until it's gone! Although I think she is trying to make a different point about the importance of libraries in a community, this type of statement actually lends itself to the argument (in my opinion) that libraries aren't doing enough. I know personally that the library at which I work just reviewed its budget for the next year, and we are dealing with severe budget cuts that will greatly impact patrons directly (e.g. our budget for new books has been cut by 40%), but when it is put into practice, patrons will simply complain about how the library isn't doing enough or they never have anything good to read anymore (some people actually do say this). Sometimes I wonder why the people I work with are not more outraged at the fact that libraries are so short changed. Instead they just deal with it and make very little fuss over the issue. Maybe that is the real problem with libraries: the people who work there are not as passionate about it as they should be. I'm not saying that if everyone in public libraries suddenly decided to quit their jobs in protest, libraries would be better off. But maybe more people in the community would take notice, and we wouldn't have to wait until it was "too late" to look back on what we used to have, and what we are now missing.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Catching up
So...for anyone who has been following me, I have fallen really behind in my blog posts. Going to library school, as my family calls it, is more intense than I thought it would be. I've found that I generally have a lot going on in school, and am always thinking about all things library related, but never have the chance to sit down and put them into writing. So here goes my chance at catching up!
Today I decided to go on to Amazon to order some Christmas presents, and I was met with the announcement that Amazon has created their own lending library (as they call it) for Kindle owners who have an Amazon prime membership. Having just purchased a Kindle Fire for my dad for Christmas (this is an attempt to get him to use an e-reader so he doesn't have to pack his own library of books when he goes on vacation!), I was really intrigued by this. Of course, it is only open to those who have an Amazon prime membership, which is a clearly defined attempt to to make more money from consumers, but I think the social implications for libraries and the public are very interesting. What would this mean for libraries looking to license books from Amazon? Will Amazon stop licensing to libraries, knowing they can make more money on forcing people to sign up for a membership? I don't think that would happen, because I think that could cause Amazon to lose its competitive edge in a market filled with e-readers. But I look at the library where I work. We have both Kindles and Nooks to loan to people (in library use only for the Kindles, but they can check out Nooks). It is assumed that these people do not have their own personal e-readers, so they come to the public library to use them. If Amazon suddenly found it less profitable to license their material to libraries, these people would never have access to this product, because they certainly aren't going to go buy their own! So Amazon would effectively lose money, despite trying to make more money. So I can't really see that happening. Then again, who knows...
Today I decided to go on to Amazon to order some Christmas presents, and I was met with the announcement that Amazon has created their own lending library (as they call it) for Kindle owners who have an Amazon prime membership. Having just purchased a Kindle Fire for my dad for Christmas (this is an attempt to get him to use an e-reader so he doesn't have to pack his own library of books when he goes on vacation!), I was really intrigued by this. Of course, it is only open to those who have an Amazon prime membership, which is a clearly defined attempt to to make more money from consumers, but I think the social implications for libraries and the public are very interesting. What would this mean for libraries looking to license books from Amazon? Will Amazon stop licensing to libraries, knowing they can make more money on forcing people to sign up for a membership? I don't think that would happen, because I think that could cause Amazon to lose its competitive edge in a market filled with e-readers. But I look at the library where I work. We have both Kindles and Nooks to loan to people (in library use only for the Kindles, but they can check out Nooks). It is assumed that these people do not have their own personal e-readers, so they come to the public library to use them. If Amazon suddenly found it less profitable to license their material to libraries, these people would never have access to this product, because they certainly aren't going to go buy their own! So Amazon would effectively lose money, despite trying to make more money. So I can't really see that happening. Then again, who knows...
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