Monday, September 30, 2013

An all-digital library --BiblioTech


Lauren Frederick

Cottrell, M.(2013, September 18) Paperless libraries, American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved on September 30, 2013 from 
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/paperless-libraries

This article caught my eye, even though its about a public library in Texas. Bexar County opened an all-digital library, called BiblioTech. This facility is bookless and serves an unincorporated area outside of San Antonio, "offering more than 10,000 titles available for digital download and 100 e-readers on loan, as well as computer stations, digital literacy classes, and a coffee shop."

With access to technology and no print, it allows for the county to spend less money and have less space, allowing the librarian to help patrons connect with information as opposed to circulation.

The reason I thought this to be relevant to the Learning Commons, is that the learning environment is much more fluid. At The University of Texas at San Antonio they opened a digital library as well, and in this space the computer stations and modular furniture can be moved to accommodate groups. In school libraries, with the books on the wall and the stations similar to this, a Learning Commons can exist. The access to all the technology would allow for this as well. I am not sure how beneficial the lack of books would be to the schools, but upping the ante with additional e-readers and computer stations could definitely help any library.

“What I’m seeing is this movement acknowledging that these services libraries provide are as important as the books. Libraries are being acknowledged as to how central they are to communities.”

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