Comments on: It’s Literally Wednesday: The Future of Barnes & Noble

By: Alison Weissinger

Alison Weissinger — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:36:40 +0000

@DrB–the eBook marketplace is still very volatile, especially for public libraries. It is very complicated. Many publishers either won’t sell their new releases to public libraries, charge multiple times more than they would a private consumer or want to place total number of download restrictions on titles.
DCPL would love to offer more eBooks, and more print titles and everything else. You may not be aware that our funding for materials has been decimated for the last 4 years. At our peak in 2007-2008 we had approximately $2.025 million from County General Fund to spend on materials and for the last several years we have been getting $100,000. That’s $100,000 for 22 branches, serving the entire population of DeKalb.
The DeKalb Library Foundation does have a way for you to specifically support the eBook collection through online giving. Follow this link if you would like to donate:
https://app.etapestry.com/cart/DeKalbCountyPublicLibraryF/default/category.php?ref=721.0.89909303

Thanks,
Alison Weissinger, Director, DCPL

By: ww

ww — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:19:28 +0000

University Textbooks are going virtual as well. Some of my collegues kids use the ipad for classes with no paper. It is becoming “A Brave New World,” just not the paperback edition on my bookshelf.

By: brianc

brianc — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:37:08 +0000

A Wal-Mart dominated book world is a depressing thought. Dozens of books about people who think they went to heaven while taking a nap.

By: DrB

DrB — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:36:18 +0000

The eBooks are awesome. And way too few.

Every eBook I want to download at the Dekalb Library has a waiting list a mile long, and this seems to be the norm (at least when I check out a large chunk of their scifi collection).

I’ve always wondered how the pricing (to the library) differs from buying a print book. I’d give even more than we do to the Friends of the Dekalb Library if they setup an eBook fund.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:49:54 +0000

Oh yes, I used to live in the apartments that (practically) share a parking lot with Videodrome, many years ago! The constant traffic in that area deters me from heading over there. It’s a shame – date night just isn’t the same without a stop at a video store on the way home.

By: Alison Weissinger

Alison Weissinger — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:36:14 +0000

@STG–I’ll pass on the suggestion to our webmaster. We use the proprietary OverDrive platform for eBooks and unfortunately we can’t always get it to work the way we would like.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:07:06 +0000

Still one great intown video store left: Videodrome in Poncey-Highland. That’s where you go when you want to show yer daughter The Sting, which isn’t on Netflix streaming…

By: Toml

Toml — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:00:20 +0000

ebooks. Take a look at today’s Wall Street Journal. A Texas library has opened with no books. Computer terminals and lending ebooks are the future of libraries.