LibraryTechtonics

Christopher Penn, a “civilian” non-librarian, and the brilliant mind behind the likes of PodCamp and FinancialAidPodcast, sent me this Lifehacker post via email.

Ever wish there were a Netflix for Books? Well there is, and BookSwim is its name. You build a queue of books you want to read on their web site, they ship books from your queue, you keep the books for as long as you want, and you return books with pre-paid postage. Their base plan lets you keep 3 books at a time for $20/month, while their biggest and baddest premium plan costs $36/month for 11 books at a time. With over 150,000 titles, BookSwim looks like a promising service for the bookish sort.

Are libraries with the size, labor, and financial resources doing this? Can libraries do this? Will libraries do this?

Granted, when LibraryPlanet posted about Book Swim a ways back, the “obvious” was pointed out:

BookSwim – paid membership required. Public library – no membership required. BookSwim – unlimited “rentals”. Public library – unlimited “rental” (return by due date – usually 30 days). – Derek Punsalan

and

Or you could, you know, go to your local library. They might not have 150,000 titles, but that’s what interlibrary loan is for. – Brad Linder

That said, back in May of 2007, Book Swim is still around, and being pimped by Lifehacker, a popular blog of all things easy life, as recently as August 22.

And, while people can get videos and DVDs at the library, usually for free or for a much smaller fee-per-”rental” than a monthly Netflix subscription, there are still hordes of Netflix subscribers, with more subscribers everyday.

I think what’s being missed by libraries here is the user culture. Users like it easy, convenient, and with the fewest penalties possible. Delivered directly to their door or desktop makes it priceless. It’s just not as easy as saying, “You can do that at the library, you know,” or “It’s free at the library.” Our services don’t fit the behaviors of these non-standard patrons, so we are irrelevant to them unless we offer something similar to what they already know and like.

I don’t know that libraries as institutions have the infrastructure to handle any sort of paid user subscription model, but I could totally be wrong. Then, yes, there is the cost of postage, labor, packaging, etc. And then there’s adding a new process and business style to the library. I recognize that it’s not without it’s obstacles, and I’ve heard the many arguments against it before. I also recognize that we’re already implementing these ideas, in various ways: reserve online, in person, on the phone, we’ll call you when it’s ready. But really, it’s just not the same.

So, I ask: What would be a way for libraries to take advantage of this very successful model, that people are willing to *pay* for to get what they want and the convenience of getting it? Could it make us some money? Would it be good enough to bring in the Netflix/Book Swim crowd?

Once again, my apologies for not having comments turned on. The move to WordPress and a much easier comment management system are slow on my end for various reasons, so it’s my bad. However, I’m glad to add trackback links to this post, or any comments people want to send in email, until I’ve got the blog all sorts of really happy and functional again.

Tags: books, technology, web
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