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Electric Library

Jasmina MeyerHighlands Today

Samuel Weintrub uses a self checkout station to checkout library materials recently at the Sebring Public Library. Weintrub said "it facilitates handling more patrons quicker."

By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: October 5, 2008

At the beginning of the digital revolution - that would be the mid 1970s, when Bill Gates founded Microsoft and Steve Jobs assembled the first Apple computer - people started talking about the end of newspapers, and libraries without walls.

The conventional wisdom was that by the 21st century, newspapers would be electronic. And libraries, well, with computers, who would need libraries?

Turns out, the oracles were only 10 percent right. That's how many electronic volumes there are in the Avon Park, Lake Placid and Sebring libraries.

But, said Michael Pate, the pattern is shifting.

"I came to work here eight years ago," said the assistant librarian, who grew up in Avon Park. When he was in the third and fourth grade, the entire children's library was all books. "We had a choice between hardbacks and paperbacks."

In 2008, if a reader wants the latest John Grisham book, "The Appeal," he can choose a hardback or a book on CD.

With a computer, the reader can download the book from the library. Go to www.myhlc.org, and in the center of the screen is "Download an Audio Book, Right Where You Are," and there are lists of books for which the library has obtained the rights to download.

The patron has a week to listen to it. After that, the file won't work.

The book can also be downloaded to an MP3 player. Don't have a Zune or a Zen? The library has obtained about 100 books on MP3s. Borrow the electronic book, and the MP3 and ear buds come with it. The price of a book on MP3 is about the same as a hardback, Pate said.

"Audiobooks have been growing in popularity over time," Pate said.

A look at the DVD collection shows some are popular fiction movies - "Iron Man," for example, which can be found at any video rental store. But what won't be found at Hollywood or Blockbuster in large numbers are classic foreign films and documentaries. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is another example.

The other difference, of course, is that libraries are funded by taxes, so books and disks are loaned free.

The library's CD collection also has a more edifying intent: there's some Top 40 music, but many of the 3,000 music CDs are jazz or blues - more "Martin Scorsese Presents Red, White & Blues," and less Jonas Brothers.

"I wish they had more DVDs," said Doug Randolph, a patron from Sebring browsing in the VCR collection.

And that's Problem No. 1 with changing technology. The library bought 7,000 VCR tapes. Now, VCRs are outmoded. And new DVD technology is being introduced every year.

Up And Down

How does a poor economy affect the library business? Nationally, circulation is up, and profits are down.

The American Library Association says borrowing was 10 percent higher in the past year than it was in the 2001 economic downturn.

At the Tampa-Hillsboro County Public library, checkouts of movies and documentaries rose 69 percent from 2006 to 2007. Marcee Challener, manager of the material and circulation services, said the library has beefed up its DVD collection to meet the demand.

At Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble, profits are down. Barnes & Noble second quarter sales dipped 1.6 percent to $1.22 billion, while profits fell 14.6 percent.

Books-A-Million's second quarter sales fell 7.5 percent to $123 million, and profits declined 79 percent from 3.1 million to $645,000.

The Future Is When?

The latest technology, says Pate, is Blu-Ray DVDs, which the library hasn't gotten yet, because few patrons have Blu-Ray players.

(Actually, Blu-Rays use violet-colored lasers to read discs. Using the same size disc, a CD stores up to 700 megabytes of information, a DVD holds 4.7 gigabytes, a Blu-Ray contains 50 gigs. Blu-Ray player prices start at $180. DVD players using the current technology can be had for a little as $30.)

Pate is already waiting to see if Blu-Ray will stick around, or go the way of HD DVD. High Definition discs stored 15 gigabytes and also employed blu-rays, but in February, Toshiba announced it is abandoning the format.

"The library never bought any of those," Pate smiled. "It turns out to be a good thing."

There's another problem with the future, says Library Director Mary Myers.

Bandwidth. "A lot of our customers are still on dial-up. It takes all day to download a book," she said. "If you have DSL or a cable modem, it's not a problem."

Also, DVD and CDs are fragile. She opened a case, and lifted on a corner of the DVD. It will break if forced to come out that way.

"A lot of people don't know how to get it out," she said, and pushed on the center. It nearly fell out.

"It doesn't hold up well to daily circulation," Myers said. One scratch, and the DVD may not work. And if the patron cracks the center hole trying to remove it from the case, it may not play.

There's also a theft problem, so librarians keep DVDs behind the counter. Check out is labor intensive, because they have to find the DVD, place it in the case, and return it to the patron. The process is reversed on check-in.

The Sebring library has 13 computers. Sometimes, every unit is in use.

On Wednesday, Becky Kirchner of Zolfo Springs was checking her e-mail. Her company, Rainbow Support, trains the handicapped how to use computer.

But no more machines can be added, Myers said. "Not until we build a new library. There's not enough space."

The library has access to a database with medical information, journal articles and scholarly research. "But we don't see a lot usage," Myers said. "We need to promote it more."

As for that library without walls, there are projects to digitize newspapers, magazines and books. Google is copying 1,000 books a day on volumes where the copyright hasn't expired - Shakespeare's "As You Like It" is an example. The results are posted on the search engine, so readers can open the pages, even copy and paste the words in their own documents.

But 175 million books have been published. Even at Google's rate, it takes three years to digitize a million books.

What's In Our Libraries?

Collection Size*

Adult Fiction Books 85,000

Adult Non-Fiction Books 57,000

Children's Materials 32,000

Video Cassettes 7,000

DVDs 5,000

Books on Cassette 1,800

Books on CD 1,000

Music on CD 3,000

Downloadable Audiobooks 1,300

Books on MP3 100

Estimated Total 193,000

*rounded numbers

Top 10 DVDs 2008

Black Rain

The Constant Gardener

V For Vendetta

The Cave

The New World

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

A History Of Violence

National Treasure

Aquamarine

Inside Man

Top 10 Audiobooks 2008

The Edge

Cold Case Squad

Hour Game

The Secret

Snagged: A Regan Reilly Mystery

Double Take: An FBI Thriller

Judge & Jury

Treasure Of Khan

Mary, Mary

Step On A Crack

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