Public libraries should model this service. Before you
scream, “But our Virtual Branch is already modeling this service,” let me
clarify. Public libraries as a group need to model this service on a national
level.
Many years ago, I heard a marketing professional talk about
branding. I wish I could remember her name or the context, but the point she
made still rings true. Libraries are in the very enviable position of having a
distinct and ancient brand: BOOKS.
Despite all the frantic gnashing of teeth about the death of
books, my library is experiencing higher circulation of books (both print and
digital) than ever before. People have not stopped reading just because
Facebook exists. And people have not stopped needing libraries just because
Amazon Prime exists.
All this talk about abandoning books and moving all public
library resources into services is silly, in my humble opinion. I don’t deny
that services comprise an extremely important product line for contemporary
public libraries. But we should never abandon our primary brand: BOOKS.
Even though the costs of providing ebooks to our users has
been astronomical and only gotten worse in the past year, the Douglas County Libraries model is one clear path to solving this problem. Plus, Bibliotheca has
announced plans to be the public library’s white knight and provide a “national solution.” So, help is on the way. We can all calm down. Libraries will still
have books.
But we still have problems. At the American Library
Association annual conference, the Pew Internet Project announced that 62% of the general population is unaware whether they’re local library loans ebooks.
According to The Digital Shift, 75% of libraries do. Clearly, we have some work
to do.
I propose public libraries devise a valued-added WiFi
service implemented nation-wide. If the public could visit ANY public
library in the country and access reliable WiFi service with the same features
and content, then public libraries would have a public relations and advocacy
tool of unprecedented power.
So, what would be the added value? What would the free
content look like?
According to ALA, there are 16,698 public library locations in the United States. That’s more than there are McDonald’s (14,098) and
Starbucks (12, 811). So, with that kind of market penetration, why aren’t we
hounded by publishers to promote their authors and product lines? My guess is
we don’t speak their language, and we don’t make it known we are open to those
possibilities.
DCL’s Jamie LaRue has a must read article on The Digital
Shift right now called “All Hat, No Cattle: A Call for Libraries to Transform Before It’s Too Late.” He points to the studies which prove that libraries do
not steal sales away from publishers. Conversely, we generate sales by providing
unparalleled discovery. The smart publishers would beat down our doors if we only
provided a platform for such a promotional partnership to happen.
Why couldn’t there be a free download of the week from
participating publishers, authors, and distributors? Visit Your Local Public
Library for a free download of . . .
- Stephen King’s latest short story
- debut Young Adult novelist’s Jane Doe’s first book in her trendy trilogy
- Disney’s Pixar’s Cars short film – "Mater Goes Bananas"
- Amy Winehouse’s newly discovered version of “New York, New York”
- Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks graphic short story
There are lots of other possibilities for content, and
producers would come out of the woodwork if we only had the mechanism. They already do this in airports. The rest
of the WiFi landing page could be customized by the local library to include
links to proprietary databases and content purchased by the host library.
So how do we pay for it? I suggest it come out of IMLS
funding. It would need to be a national service, so it would need to be funded
and maintained at a national level – at least in the beginning.
