"Popular Materials Center" aside, public libraries have always been in Long Tail mode

Even before it was a theory.

Link to September 16 Knowledge@Wharton post, "Rethinking the Long Tail Theory: How to Define 'Hits' and 'Niches'".

Excerpt: The Long Tail theory suggests that, as the Internet makes distribution easier -- and uses state-of-the-art recommendation systems that allows consumers to become aware of more obscure products -- demand will shift from the most popular products at the "head" of a demand curve -- as charted on an xy axis -- to the aggregate power of a long "tail" made up of demand for many different niche products.

The Wharton researchers find that the Long Tail effect holds true in some cases, but when factoring in expanding product variety and consumer demand, mass appeal products retain their importance.