Comments on: Libraries: For the Poor and the Cheap

By: Mielczarek

Mielczarek — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:31:14 +0000

Totally agree. The word of mouth from the libraries is very important!

By: Abbi

Abbi — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:29:37 +0000

Almost all of the books I have purchased, I at some point read first at the library. I read voraciously and quickly, and have no desire to spend $200 a month on new books. Books nowadays are too expensive, unless you are at the library book sale and filling a big bag for $5. :)

By: Mildred

Mildred — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 19:20:02 +0000

I will try out craft books from the library and purchase the ones that appeal to me. Libraries have been producing educated poor since they were created and I am glad they were. My elementary school teachers taught me two very valuable things–how to use a dictionary and how to use a library. I am grateful to say those things got me through college from a very poor family. My parents were very smart people but very poor and books were not on the shopping list.

By: Jaclyn C

Jaclyn C — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:52:27 +0000

I think Library Guy and Nerdy Librarian made two excellent points:

1 Library patrons may not buy the books, but they influence the ones who do.

2 Also, if I find a library book particularly enjoyable or useful, I will go buy it and add it to my collection – and I’ll tell others about it,

By: Erica Friedman

Erica Friedman — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:44:40 +0000

@Reader! – I hope you’ll go back and actually read the post all the way through. Because what you said I said is exactly the opposite of what I actually said. ^_^ I explicitly say that no one is asking you to throw anything away.

(This article was specifically addressing an audience that is already using digital content – but only when it’s stolen as scans and does not want to pay for it, but then will not buy a book unless it is in print. This is the current manga reading audience, and it’s a real problem for manga publishers. )

I’m a librarian, and I donate hundreds of books to my local library – mostly graphic novels, because the budget for those have been cut and I want young people reading.

I love books and I will continue to read, purchase and publish books for sometime. I wish you had actually read the post, rather than synposized it so incorrectly. I love books, and I love Libraries. Digital is already happening and Libraries are right on the forefront of the whole thing – exactly where they should be.

I have never suggested anyone destroy a book and I frequently suggest people donate unwanted books to their library.

Cheers,

Erica Friedman
Proud to be a Master of Library Service

By: elena schneider

elena schneider — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:53:04 +0000

Not sure where that futurist is getting her ideas. I remember when ‘microfilm’ was the future…yea…
Good luck in this day and age finding a cheap machine that will view/print those formats many ‘future thinking’ libraries bought into. Think the same may be for e-books and PDF files. The futurist are not thinking farther than the current formats.

By: Development Arrested

Development Arrested — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:33:18 +0000

Sorry for the double post, just thought of something else.

“Though wreathed in snark, AL has a point. The patrons willing to wait on our hold lists for an eBook weren’t ever going to buy that eBook in the first place. Why mourn for a nonexistent sale?”

What they should be thinking is how can we turn this non-sell into a sell. In my mind, an e-book will never be what a real book is worth. They could try lowering the prices of ebooks for a while. At least until they completely sales of paperbacks. Then they jack the price back up.

By: Development Arrested

Development Arrested — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:28:52 +0000

“…The future is the cry of children being born right now, ‘A book? Oh, you mean those paper things Dad keeps in his study. I don’t know why he even keeps them, we have /madeupformatname/ now.’ (Much the same as younger folks today look at their parents’ LP collections.)…”

So basically what this person is saying is that books will only be used by hipsters? “Those ebooks just don’t have the same warm pops and crackles as vintage books.” “Hey, let’s all go to the Goodwill and see if we can find any vintage books… man, all they have here are Nora Roberts and James Pattersons.”

By: Nerdy Librarian

Nerdy Librarian — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:29:57 +0000

I agree that bookstores are mourning non existent sales and instead of thinking of libraries in terms of lost sales, they should think of them in terms of a guarantee of some sales.
Also, if I find a library book particularly enjoyable or useful, I will go buy it and add it to my collection – and I’ll tell others about it, and be more likely to buy the author’s next book outright.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:07:40 +0000

Library loans can lead to sales. I’ve purchased a number of books, mainly craft, after first taking them out as a library loan.