In a Digital World, Can Books Survive?

It’s an e-book and e-reader revolution. Amazon now sells more digital books than it does print copies. Kindles are everywhere, along with their Nook, Sony, and IPad brethren. Magazines and journals increasingly are delivered to libraries and individual subscribers over the web. Newspaper circulation is plummeting. Google and major publishers have undertaken projects to digitize millions of books.

What does this mean for the future of libraries, both the institutional library and even one’s personal library? Is the book as we have known it becoming extinct?

• One should remember that the book is an intellectual entity; it’s the content of a book, as opposed to the way that content has been packaged and delivered, that is revered and respected by society

• While it is true that fine bindings, paper, typography, and illustrations can enhance the reading experience and will continue to be valued by readers, the essence of the book is independent of these things, and technology has enabled new and, for some, better and more convenient media for delivery of book content

• The emergence of e-books and e-journals probably is best thought of not as a competition out of which a dominant standard will emerge, but rather as an increase in choice and personalization; one will be able to choose a format and a medium that meets the needs and the preferences of the moment.

What's the Library's role in a digital environment?

Libraries of all kinds embraced electronic information resources long before their value and potential had become evident to many of their customers. Online catalogs, indexes and abstracts have been essential to libraries for over 30 years. More recently these have been enhanced to include full text, images, even sound and video. The numbers and capabilities of these online resources improve year after year. All libraries, including LBCC Library, are offering e-books on a wide range of subjects that are available any time without a trip to the library building. There can be no doubt that as e-readers become more prevalent and the demand for e-content continues publishers, including textbook publishers, will have a strong incentive to meet that demand. As they do now, libraries will license, organize, deliver, and help their customers understand, synthesize, and evaluate that digital information content. And they’ll continue to provide some of their resources in traditional formats, physical books and magazines.

For more information contact: Dele Ukwu