"Library that does not have paper books" that does not have a collection of books opened

The image of a general "library" is supposed to be a collection on a bookshelf as far as a large number of books can look, but TexasSan Antonio CitySo, a strange public library that does not have a collection of books is open.

BiblioTech - Bexar County Digital Library
http://bexarbibliotech.org/


Texas library offers glimpse of bookless future - New York News
http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/24356855/texas-library-offers-glimpse-of-bookless-future

Although some educational institutions already had similar systems, the first public library in the nation's public libraries to do "digitization of books" was the library in San Antonio City, Texas,BiblioTech"is.


Approximately 50 iMacs are installed as terminals for browsing in the hall and iPad and notebook PC etc. for applying for lending data which is a substitute for "book" can be used, and all users use the screen It is a system of browsing books displayed above.


BiblioTech keeps books data of 100,000 volumes, but they are all purchased at the same price as actual books. There are voices of wondering though it purchased data, but since the cost to the facility has been drastically reduced, we eventually succeeded in cutting costs at the level of several hundred million yen. The cost of constructing BiblioTech is 2.3 million dollars (about 240 million yen), but the cost of constructing a new library in downtown Austin in Texas is $ 120 million (about 12.5 billion yen) Even the library in Kyle, a small town in the suburbs, needed a budget of about 100 million yen more than BiblioTech.


When the library director Ashley Eklof previously worked in another library, I was plagued by books where the missing position became obsolete, the page was torn down, and items that did not come back as it was rented out However, BiblioTech does not seem to have any such problems. Moreover, it was said that computerized books could also achieve reductions in space and cost required for collections.


The city of San Antonio is located in the western part of the state of Texas, a city famous for its landscape called "River Walk" by a waterway surrounded by the city.

ByStuart Seeger

About half of the population is occupied by the Hispanic group and it is classified as a big city in the whole country but the rank of the literacy level of residents is low at 60th place in the US and the situation that the Internet housing is not even adjusted to the residence of the area was. It is now greatly improved, the number of visitors in the first year of open has been changing at more than 100,000 people, and it is very time to find out the availability of the terminal when the high school class in the neighborhood is over It becomes hard to become difficult. It seems that occupancy rate of e-book reader for rent is always over 50%.


However, some users say "paper books are better, I do not like tablets and I am not kind to the eyes", it is also true that voices calling for an old library are being raised say. It is an interesting place whether similar systems will become widespread though it is "library without book" which was made possible only by penetration of digital technology.