Papers vs Screens
7:04 am
Yesterday, in San Antonio, Texas the Bexar County digital library called Biblio Tech is the first library in the United States that only provides digital copies of books to patrons rather than stocking up on paper copies. The concept of the store is a combination of an Apple Store and an internet cafe ( They were even thinking of colaberating with Starbucks so patrons are able to read while drinking coffee). The public is free to browse the catalog of e-books on one of the touch screen tables and download a copy to their personal e-reader like an Amazon Kindle. This e-library provides a wide range of Mac laptops, Mac desktops, ipads and ipods for patrons. In addition, any patron of Bexar County can check out one of the 600 e-readers on hand and take it home to read books checked out of the library.
In order to check out books , the residents can access the digital catalog on their mobile device after downloading the 3M Cloud Library application. The application allows the resident to link their library card to Biblio Tech system and after selecting your desired e-book , the chosen e-book will appear in your "My Book" section of the application. Those books can be checked out for more than two weeks at a time.
Honestly evolution of technology is really good, but in my opinion, I wouldn't want this. Although it may be easy and convenient for most people however I would rather borrow paper copies. Why? Well, people go to libraries to borrow books. What's the point of going to the library if you're going to get a digital copy of it? I'm sure right now, if you google a book that you fancy reading, you can just read it on the spot. Go ahead, try it. Why have an e-library then? Call me old fashion, but I prefer paper compared to screens. In contrary, I am currently blogging about it on my laptop.
SJY
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