14 November 2007

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND--BOOKS REDUX

“Why Bother Studying Book Use at All? Patrons Want Everything on the Internet”

“There was a time when libraries installed radios in reading rooms and turned them on for important events such as presidential speeches. As radios became common household items, that practice disappeared. We suspect that patron use of the Internet in libraries may be a similar phenomenon. Laptop computers with wireless Internet connections are now common, and it may not be too many years before a home without a fast Internet connection is as unusual as one without a radio. When that day comes, libraries (while still being a supplier of online materials) had better be prepared to meet the demand for what is still our most popular item: books.”

Greiner, Tony and Bob Cooper, Analyzing Library Collection Use with Excel©, Chicago: American Library Association, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8389-0933-1, US$40.00 (ALA members $36.00), pp. 6-7.

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