UNIT 411 – Bibliotheks Polizei

A long time ago I had a professor who committed suicide. Not in class of course. He was removed from the course for reason I shall not get into here, but he told the class of the myth of the Phoenix and it stuck with me.

You can read about the myth here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology).

I promise you the belabored gibberish will come back to libraries.

The lecture was about how scientific disciplines rise out of their own ashes and march forward in different incarnations out of death of their predecessors. The reiteration of the process is seen in the pattern of biological decay, like a fractal, the pattern can be compellingly beautiful.

Like the death tarot card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(Tarot_card)) much is subject to interpration. I like tarot cards in the sense that at least to me, they are like the Rokeach Test, telling more of the participants than the future. Then again if belief guides perception, you will find varying mileage of accuracy in accordance to the belief.

Like theories of divine prognostication, forever segregating the sacred from the profane in time immemorial, we too have to acknowledge that the conceptual theories we treasure may have been disproven, we too have to let our Phoenix die. And how we come to terms with that will say much about ourselves.

I want to say that the Phoenix of librarianship, the rise and fall so to speak is a graceful rolling of fire and glory. Not that reality of the matter should show the ease and grace of a myth, but there should be some sign of ideas of intent going through some form of formal stages. In other words, how we manifest our intent should die and be reborn in a recognizable way.

To avoid the charge of lacking specifics and whimsical sophistry I’ll give something of what I mean as plainly as possible.

The adaptation to the digital materials market for libraries has been one of imbalance. The publishers have a monopoly on the materials and how they are accessed and so set terms that benefit themselves at the cost of libraries. It doesn’t have to be this way, but publishers can do so without reprisal and like crackheads that only know one dealer, libraries are at their mercy. And in the process of participation in this market we took what was one of our highest values, that of the privacy of what the patron is reading, and tossed it aside to take part and lead patrons to the hands of the data miners.

Values such as privacy becomes a commodity exchanged in the marketplace for access. Bad deals are taken for access just to meet patron expectations which were cultivated by the marketplace.

The intent, that of having a selection of materials for the population served became an exercise in prostituting digital formats. The novel experience of accessing via a device usurped the content of the material itself. And we are quick to pay for it, ask anyone who has gone over their mobile data plan just who is in charge of their access.

Claiming something as profound as the death of an intent is pretty drastic, and I do not have all the data to proclaim such a statement without leaving the possibility open to being wrong, all I can say is that is how I’m reading the cards.

But a rebirth is possible. If libraries value the circulation of the selected materials over the trendy formats, that is value the intent over the expectations, we’ll have something of a Phoenix.

I still feel the need to clarify because my point still sounds like a weak tea, so I’ll develop why I think the intention of lending is so important and why keeping up with the trendy is not.

If I asked you what is the anti-virus for the mind, you may well say something like critical reasoning. Rather, the ability to tell shit from shinola. Critical reasoning exercised in formal government education is expected to continue, if not in collegiate/work environment, at least at one’s own pace to one’s own abilities and interest. This becomes pricey, books for self edification can exceed what people can afford to pay. Incidentally, I do feel that saucy novels are exercises of the mind that should not be shamed, but explored and celebrated. And with careful selection, promotion and guidance libraries can do much good in helping people.

Trouble arises when the funding for materials becomes jeopardized, fair enough that the economic vicissitudes should have an impact on selection, but jeopardizing the priority of maximum impact for technolust is detrimental to all. I like ebooks in libraries, I just don’t think the game is worth the candle because of what you get for your money and privacy cost.

Digital publishing isn’t limited to the ebooks provided by the big publishers or the middlemen that profit from library subscriptions. And what is at stake is not only what popular books can be distributed on kindles from the library, it is the access to ideas told by the storyteller of our culture. It is the ability for self education and exercise of the intellect, the intention of the authors to communicate. The element of profit is to keep the whole game going, not to kill the golden goose.

And so I argue that that the course of our intention has run into a blind alley because of the acquiescence to patron expectations shaped by the market place. We are supposed to offer the intellectual anti-virus against shoddy thinking and not succumb to the pressures of the market place.

Word.

As a fan of classic literature, while looking up adaptations of Jane Austen novels, I discovered the latest incarnation of Pride and Prejudice.  ”The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is a web series recreating the novel for today’s generation.  Not only does the web series adapt to the 21st century (the novel will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2013), it pays attention to minute details and leaving no stone unturned.For example, instead of the original five Bennet sisters, the web series has three: Jane, Lizzie and Lydia (the other original sisters, Mary and Kitty, are rewritten as cousin Mary and Kitty, an adorable kitten with her own Twitter account – fun fact: the actress that plays Mary is the real life sister of Kaley Cuoco, better known as Penny from “Big Bang Theory”).

The story is told as a first-person account by Lizzie Bennet, via webcam, as events unfold in each episode.  The names of some characters have been updated to modern-day America (i.e., Bing Lee from Mr. Bingley…clever). Lizzie usually has guest appearances by best friend and editor Charlotte Lu (adapted from Charlotte Lucas) and her sisters, among others.  They reenact scenes (from Lizzie’s point-of-view) with costumes and props (such as a Newsie hat and bow tie to represent the brooding Darcy).

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is also described as interactive, as viewers can comment on videos and write to the characters on their Twitter accounts (yes, including Kitty Bennet).  To follow the series from the beginning, you can check out videos, character Twitter conversations and miscellaneous goodies here: http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”, from a library school graduate’s point-of-view, is a creative way to bring classic literature to the social media masses.  Then again, I’m also prejudice because it is one of my favorite books of all time.

It has been awhile since I have posted, gone on a mission and lambasted the greed freaks that threaten library world or herald our triumphs.  There is a reason for that.

For one, lots of us are in college and for two… well, we also have jobs, hobbies, vacuuming and books to read.

But I don’t want to get into the grueling minutia of our lives or the greed of corporations….
We are mostly located around New York, the city that never sleeps, the Big Apple, the city that makes Crazy Taxi look like Pole Position.

And we got our asses kicked by a storm named Sandy, as did our brothers and sisters up and down the East Coast.

So, what does that have to do with libraries?

I’m not going to focus on libraries really…I want to focus on information and people.

Let me give you an example of what I’m thinking about.  Helena Wong of CAAAV talked about our brothers and sisters in China Town (CT!).  You see, there was plenty of information about the storm, in English.  Not so much for our friends who only understand Chinese.

While I did spend three days without power, some of our agents and friends only got power last night.   Days without hot food and a shower sucked.  But all our homes are intact and 20 miles away the fair town of Lindenhurst didn’t do so well.  That was fate and there is no reason we’ll be lucky the next time around.

Without power, you can cook if you have the stuff.  I used tea lights to cook.

But the lack of internet access was hard.  Keeping cell phones charged was hard.  I had an old crank radio so I kind of knew what was going on and with 3G you can check out the social sites and official LIPA page, it was something and yes I was grateful for it.  But all at once your connection to the outside world was a reduced to a little box turned on and off to conserve power and the cranking of an AM/FM radio.

Things like knowing if your family and friends are ok became difficult.  Anxiety, cannibalism, Mad Max scenarios jokingly went through my mind.  But after seeing the police get involved to keep people from killing each other while getting gas, the thin veneer of civility was shown…also as people treated non-working traffic lights as permission to do as they pleased instead of a 4 way stop.
Agent DB shared this link on Facebook to help people find gas (http://www.gasbuddy.com/sandy/MobileSearch.aspx).

Wow, how we sing a different tune when shit hits the fan.  Lots of people were sharing information on Facebook. Con Edison even took to twitter
(http://gizmodo.com/5957726/conedisons-twitter-jockey-is-a-hurricane-hero).  And suddenly, those stupid sites with their fucked up polices seems friendly again.  Cops are your friends again too, eh?  The National Guard was more than that commercial that pops up now and then.  And information took on a whole new meaning.  When things break bad you see what is behind the order of things.

Yet there were issues such as people messing with other people by saying there were gangs of people looting then posting their loot on twitter (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/hurricane-sandy-twitter-comfortablysmug_n_2047754.html).  Yet there was (is?) real looting going on (http://www.examiner.com/article/sandy-looting-arrests-after-hurricane-nyc). And once more we see the strengths and weakness of social media.

I did get a feeling the world was going on without me.  Friends from the other side of the country didn’t have these problems and went on with their lives, as I did when shit hit the fan in New Orleans.  I gave to the Red Cross and wished them well.  But when it’s you watching the world go by after getting stomped, it gets you thinking.  The dart of serious shit missed you, you live another day.

At the same time, their posting did help to remind me that the entire world is not spiraling into the abyss.

Which is fine, that is just the way life is, we all roll the dice.  We are all glad when we eat the bear instead of the other way around.  But the depth of how dependent I’ve become on the internet, electricity, and hot showers…makes me think libraries can go in a more DIY direction.
I’ve come to realize traveling in different social circles Geeks, Punkers, Right-wingers, Left-wingers, Gear Heads, Farmers, Entrepreneurs and have a lot more in common than they might think.  Those hippies with their organic gardens have a lot in common with a political campaign, at heart they both have the smarts and will to make shit happen.  Bart Simpson puts a lot of work into his pranks and mischief as does Lisa in her noble efforts.
There are some larger social issues at play.  Here is a nice article on what I’m talking about (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/20/opinion/la-oe-gabler-occupy-99-percent-spring-young-voters-20120520).

The DIY community, be it fan fiction, making your own Halo armor, modifying you car, learning to blog or code, etc all run on sharing information.  Back in the day you might have relied on your Dad to show you how to change a fan belt, now you can also look up YouTube videos and go to forums for help.
Part of the loss of connection with other people was felt with the loss of power because the sudden lack of access to the others in various online communities.  I don’t call a lot of the people I interact with on Facebook, and that is the primary way I found out a lot of people are ok.  And I think libraries can foster their own online communities with DIY projects.
Time will tell, it always does.

Oh Lord, why do you do this to me?

It has been some time since some dumb greed beast lumbered out of the forest to have its way with library world.  Now Hachette is out to publicly pillage and stomp libraries like a drunk bear mauling helpless campers.

From InfoDocket (Link) we get the headline “OverDrive To Library Customers: Hachette is Raising E-Book Prices an Average of 220% on Over 3500 Titles” which is all you really need to see to get mad.

But whom to get mad at?  Overdrive is made of desperate middlemen trying to make a living, and from the last time I spoke to a member of staff I got the impression they don’t want any more public stompings.  No, I get the feeling this Idea is the work of Hachette alone.

Hachette Book Group owns Little, Brown Book Group, Obiy, Yen Press, Fatih World Books, Center Street and Grand Central Publishing which once was called Warner Books.  The latter part is kind of interesting.  Lagardère bought Warner books from Time and then changed the name.  (Read More Here)

The point is, they own  lots of popular content and life is going to get harder for libraries.

• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
• Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
• Cross Fire by James Patterson
• Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
• Earth: The Book by John Stewart
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
• Life by Keith Richards
• New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• Room by Emma Donoghue
• Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
• The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

From their mission statement http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/about_mission.aspx we learn the following.

“Mission

The mission of Hachette Book Group is:

* To publish great books well.

Our Vision is:

* To be the #1 destination for authors, agents, customers and employees.
* To be a respected publisher that values talent, rewards success, and honors its
responsibilities.
* To be market focused in all we do, and to lead change in popular culture.
* To anticipate change, foster creativity, and encourage risk-taking and innovation.”

Note, nothing about libraries as there shouldn’t be.  Nothing about preserving literature, nothing about promoting literacy, not a damn thing.

What they want to do is competently publish books, aka make some serious scratch.  But the crazy thing is “to lead change in popular culture” what in the name of all that is good does that mean?  Seriously weird.

Weirdness aside, when I read “ALA President Maureen Sullivan expressed disappointment at Hachette’s choice, noting that ALA had believed that the publisher was moving toward more favorable terms for libraries” (Clicky Here) I’m more annoyed at Sullivan than Hatchette.

These companies are not your friends.  Your patrons are their competition for consumption.  That check out slip at a library was chosen over a receipt in a store.  The only reason those books, never mind ebooks, are in a library is simply because it benefited them to some degree.

But times change and there are other ways to circulate ebooks than libraries, actually libraries do not circulate ebooks, that is where the “platform fee” comes into play, but that is for another rant.  No, libraries aren’t needed to circulate ebooks legitimately and expecting anything other than a vampire suck face greed beast gulping the life blood out of a library is dangerous.

So, don’t feel guilty about calling them Hachshit, you are their prey so at least have enough courage to express your anger at the matter.

The privatization of library content is a sneaky thing. So perhaps it is good to get a general understanding of where library content stands in the public sphere so we can see how it is getting eaten up by the greed beasts. Well at least how I see it.

In the most simplest terms, the books in a library belong to the community. They are the property of the community. As so the community shares the collective wealth.

You may not have money for acres of land, but you have public parks. You may not have money for a pool, but there are public pools. You may not have money to buy all the books you can read, but you have a library.

That is the basic deal. Collectively we own lots of land, pools and books.

Police are also paid taxes and are also part of the commons. They give us a shared security, but you can’t play with stuff unless you are an employee of the department just like the library staff computers are off-limits to the public. There are always boundaries.

What makes some greed beast nervous about public goods is that they are non-excludable (my god, anyone can use them) and non-rivalrous (my god, more than one person can use it at a time). You have to let that thought sink in a bit.

There are only so many people who can fit in a pool at one time, there are only so many people a park can handle at one time and only one person can read one copy of a book at one time. So there are some clear limitations and boundaries of material reality with regards to things we all own collectively.

The problem is that while we (the royal we, the editorial we) own the books in the library, we don’t own ebooks or electronic subscriptions. And conceding that it is seems best for trees to have words on screens instead of pulp, it is in the best interest of trees and our environment not to mention our conscience to embrace ebooks and digital subscriptions.

The problematic shift is that we are moving from owners to renters. So, in the metaphor of the parks, we are renting land to serve as parks which changes the dynamics. Private property rights are different from public property right as are rights on some federal properties. Coming back to libraries, the rights of privacy with regards to the subscription services can and probably will be different than the library hold over the materials they own.

As publishers find themselves in a new business with managing econtent and the legal complexities they entail, libraries too have entered a new arena of legal mumbojumbo and unintended consequences of this paradigm shift and we just do not know what it all means yet.

This we all know, or should know at this point. However, the issue remains of where to focus our attention on what this means for the wealth of the patrons we serve. Are patrons worse off having the library subscribe to content instead of owning content. Let us say a library buys some ebooks, agrees to the user agreement that the ebook will be rivalrous, that is to say one person at a time can read the ebook and if you want more than one person to read the book at a time you have to buy more access just like you’d have to buy more books if you wanted more than one patron to read the same book at the same time. At no point are you paying for a “platform fee” for the physical books, but you are for the ebooks. For those who don’t know a “platform fee” pays for the servers and stuff that make ebook circulation possible. So, less money for the library yearly. Add to that publishers like Harper Collins that will force you to rebuy the book after 26 checkouts and you are starting to look at some new expenditures. But these new expenditures are coming out of the coffers of the public, I argue that these new expenditures come out of the wealth of the community.

Let us take this idea further. Say a person receives an ereader as a gift. They buy some books and soon realize their reading habit will get pricey fast. They decide that they will go to the library. The library has a deal with Overdrive or some other provider but it will probably be Overdrive. Aside from the aforementioned costs, you are now in the business of deciding how much tech support you are willing to offer for devices.

This seems to me to cut both ways. If you have the time and staff, it is an interesting opportunity to engage the public and allow them. If you don’t, then you might find the situation stressful. I simply wish to point out that we are subsidizing the ereaders by making more content available for them and offering support in making that content available.

Further still some libraries lend ereaders. Why? As a good librarian friend of mine pointed out, libraries did not lend out VCRs or DVD players. You could argue that the reason was a logistical one but that aside, the idea of lending out devices for information mediums isn’t our gig…well, headphones, I’ll give you headphones. Ebooks can be read on public computers running the right software which we already offer to the public.

In fact a library in Philly was sued by a blind person for loaning Nooks (http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/05/industry-news/blind-patrons-sue-philly-library-for-loaning-inaccessible-nooks/). Well good people, remember that there were issues with lending books on a Kindle…not to mention there is an issue with Kindles reading to patrons because there are different licensing for audio books.

But confusing still, is that the conflation between participation in technological advances as a the degree necessitation and participation in terms of over extension. In my view, the tail is wagging the dog, which would be so cute to see in the real world but when it comes to dollars and cents it isn’t so cute.

Taking this back to the wealth of the people, we would have to see how access to ebooks and their “platform fees” exceeds the value of wealth contained in physical books. Until there is a clear advantage to ebooks that increases or at least breaks even with the wealth contained in real work books, ebooks don’t seem like the way to go.

Agent OrangeBoy and I took a road trip to our neighbors of the North: Canada.
We did a long weekend in the lovely province of Ontario and along the way, I got to see parts of New York state I’ve never seen before.
One of the stops we made going up was at Cornell University and its law school.  The libraries on their campus are beautiful, particularly the law library and the Uris Library.  The university is in the Finger Lakes region, so the surrounding scenery is gorgeous (or as their T-shirts say, “gorges”).
I learned that western New York is home to Amish communities (we even were behind a horse-and-buggy on one of the roads!).
Once we reached the border at Lewiston, the lines crossing over the bridge moved slowly.  With passports in hand and after answering a few questions regarding our visit, we proceeded onwards to Toronto.
Although the scenery itself is not that much different from what we’re used to, you do notice subtle reminders that you’re no longer in the United States (bilinguals signs in English and French, kilometers instead of miles, etc.).  We arrived late into Toronto and we were welcomed by bright lights and a modern cityscape.
Our first full day was spent exploring the city.  First stop: Casa Loma.  Built in the 1910s, this elaborate mansion was so expensive and extensive at the time it was being built, that the owner ran out of money before it could be completed (evidence of this can be seen in the swimming pool area).
Then we hit up the Royal Ontario Museum.  A fancy building with a sharp glass addition jutting out from it make up the exterior of the museum.  It contains artifacts from every corner of the world (including the native inhabitants, both past and present, of Canada), skeletons of creatures long since past, and paintings by Canadian artists.  For lunch, we stopped at a quirky place called Smoke’s Poutinerie (recommended to Agent OrangeBoy by one of his friends).  For those of you who are not familiar with poutine, it is a Canadian food, consisting of French fries, gravy and cheese curds.  At Smoke’s, you can order poutine the traditional way, or take it up a notch with additional toppings (I ordered a bacon cheeseburger).  Make sure you bring your appetite, you get a lot, even ordering the smaller size.
We then purchased tickets to watch a baseball game.  The home team, the Blue Jays, took on the Texas Rangers.  The national anthems of both nations were sung (along with lyrics for the crowd to sing along).  The stadium is right next to the iconic CN Tower (our next stop).  From there, we were able to watch the rest of the game from above, as well as looking straight down through glass floor panels.
The next day, we got back in the car and drove 2 hours back towards the border to Niagara Falls.  Remaining on the Canadian side, we got spectacular views of the falls.  The city draws crowds primarily for the natural wonder, but there are also plenty of man-made attractions to entertain (casino, rides, etc.).  After a full day, we headed back to the city.
Our final day started off at the Toronto Zoo.  It was a large park and so many animals to see.  We then headed out to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Hockey is kinda synonymous with Canada, so we kinda had to.  Growing up among family members who loved hockey, I instantly recognized names of well-known players.  Here, you can also see the jerseys of defunct teams, such as the Hartford Whalers and the New York Americans (who became the New York Rangers).  It’s a small museum but there are areas where kids can test out their goalie and slapshot skills through virtual games.  The Stanley Cup room is located in the older part of the building with a beautiful stained-glass dome.  You can pose for photos with the coveted throphy (or at least a replica of it) and view the names of the teams engraved on it.
We ended our visit at the Hard Rock Cafe, located in the lively Dundas Square (think of Times Square on a much smaller scale).
The ride home was quicker than the ride up (although we made fewer stops than driving up), so it was a 10 hour drive, as MapQuest said it would be.
Toronto is a modern city with lots to do.  I recommend both Toronto and Niagara to those who are looking for a fun road trip or a long weekend getaway.

The Library Of Congress, the National Library, the Crown Jewel of research libraries apparently has a religious creeper named John Mech running part of the show. Not all the facts are in, but there are some things we can have some confidence in saying.

“TerVeer, hired as a management analyst in 2008, said he was on a strong career track until his boss, John Mech, discovered he was homosexual.

Before that, they had shared a friendly relationship, and TerVeer got to know Mech’s family. TerVeer joined Mech and his wife and son for a University of Maryland football game, and was introduced to Mech’s single daughter, Katie.

TerVeer and Katie became Facebook “friends” in January 2009.

“TerVeer enjoyed a friendly exchange of Facebook messages with Katie Mech, until the first week of August 2009, when his relationship with Katie Mech and her father John Mech took a dramatic turn for the worse,” his Washington, D.C.-based attorneys, Christopher Brown and Thomas Simeone, wrote in the lawsuit.

“Unbeknownst to TerVeer, Facebook had altered its privacy settings, which provided TerVeer’s Facebook ‘friends’ access to Facebook pages that he indicated he ‘liked.’”
One of the pages was TwoDads.us, which offers support for gay parents.

The lawsuit said Katie Mech posted, “Don’t tell me you’re weird like that!”

TerVeer responded offline that he was gay, but not “weird.” http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/08/facebook_like_outs_gay_fremont.html
”

“TerVeer said the harassment started when his supervisor forwarded a “threatening” email to him stating “Diversity – Let’s Celebrate It” alongside a picture of assault rifles. ” http://abcnews.go.com/Business/facebook-led-discrimination-gay-federal-worker/story?id=16126685#.UDaC2ZGRqHd

“In the complaint, TerVeer says his boss imposed his religious beliefs and “…wanted to educate me on hell.” The complaint also states, “..he hoped I had repented because the bible was very clear on what god does to homosexuals.”” http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/04/peter-terveer-sues-library-of-congress-74827.html

“Peter TerVeer now says he was subjected to harassment after his manager John Mech learned he was gay after he liked the “Two Dads” page on Facebook, a group for same-sex parents which helps “promote the gay and lesbian community,” http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/04/12/11142928-gay-worker-claims-facebook-like-got-him-fired?lite

“It also charges that Mr Mech and library official Nicholas Christopher – Mr Mech’s immediate supervisor – further violated Title VII by retaliating against Mr TerVeer when he attempted to challenge their actions via an internal library complaint.” http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/08/16/library-of-congress-auditor-sacked-after-liking-gay-adoption-facebook-page-files-federal-lawsuit/

Let me say, with utmost sincerity UNIT411 always will stand by our LGBT friends’ rights. And we will continue to call bullshit on Library World or any other world for that matter.

So, some religious creep tried to pawn his daughter off on the good looking guy in the office. I can picture the conversation now….

Here’s my daughter, she is a looker huh?! Look at that baby basket, she’ll give you twin Christian boys, no doubt! Did you know they can circumcise in utero? Hell, they even bless the placenta and baptize the baby in his own juices, how about that! Now for the dowery…

It is sad that this medieval bullshit happened, even sadder in a library, sadder still in The Library Of Congress.

Let us cut to the chase.  The deal with ebooks is simple.  Instead of having a library, instead of owning books you are renting them.  The degree to which your collection existing will be based on the continuance of giving the real owners of the ebooks their money.

They don’t care about libraries, intellectual freedom, privacy or anything other than profit.  Once more what was owned by the public becomes the domain of the companies and will be never returned, not in any useful way.

The life of a library will controlled by these ebook companies.  Your library budget will depend on the whims of these companies.

They finally got control over the one legal place people can get access to books for free and these greedy freaks will abuse it.  You trust them at your peril.

The thing is, you don’t have to play this game.  If people got ereaders as gift and can’t afford to get books, they come to the library.  At that moment is it more important that the library give a copy for the ereader or that we have a copy of the book?  If the issue is the book, format be damned, why care about the format?  Why so much anxiety to fulfill this expectation?

The simple answer is that publishing is heading in a paperless direction, paper might not be an option.  And you could argue then that it is rather inevitable that publishers will gain some control over library budgets.  Again, because ebooks become a perpetual cost instead of a one time cost.  Seems plausible but perhaps unlikely in the near future.

Ereader owners could just illegally download the books, which aside from being easy and not costing anything, robs the author and publisher of some cash and circumvents the use of the library .  Which is a real bummer if you are the library, you want the patron to get the book and the author to get paid not to mention the author and the publishers…but my friends let us take a few steps back, this all seems too simple.

We here are good fine people who like reading.  And we know authors are mammals and need various things like food and housing which allows them to write.  This is a slightly different argument of incentive, I think writers write just because they are writers, reality has to allow for a tautology from time to time.  I’m not too sure what the reptilian publishers consume, I assume baby’s blood because they act like evil bastards.  The point I’m trying to make is that I get that authors need money to keep writing.

A simple alternative would be something like unglue.it where “unglue (v. t.) 4. For an author or publisher, to accept a fixed amount of money from the public for its unlimited use of an ebook” and the author gets to eat.  Of course Amazon got wind and tried to shut their payment struture down and you can read more about that here http://blog.unglue.it/2012/08/09/open-thread-amazon-forces-unglue-it-to-suspend-crowdfunding-for-creative-commons-ebooks/.

So, the future library might be a place where all the collection is virtual, owned by parties that don’t care about libraries, what they stand for or human decency and can vanish…and we want to do this to stay relevant.  Brilliant.

You know what might be good?  Getting lost in a philosophical haze of what constitutes librarianship, I mean it’s free do to, you sound smart and best of all it doesn’t cost you anything, nothing but pluses on your CV.