The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board Weighs In on Ebooks and Libraries

As with any online reader poll, to be taken with a grain of salt.

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board: Libraries need e-books, too. (3/18/2012)

Excerpt: E-books have become so popular that the Free Library of Philadelphia reports a surge from July 2011, when there were 17,000 downloads to last month, when there were 26,800 downloads. 

Theoretically, e-books can last forever, and they are so easily obtained on the Internet that publishers believe they could lose their chance to recoup the costs of the original risks they took on authors and production. Paper books sold to libraries eventually deteriorate after many uses and libraries must replace them. With e-books, they don’t. 

The ease of downloading also means people don’t have to go to libraries for e-books, which raises questions about the future of libraries. They are more than just book warehouses. For example, the jobless go the library to hunt for employment on the Internet. Libraries help bridge the digital divide between those who have computers and those who don’t. Their programs for young children, teenagers, and adults promote literacy. And visits by popular authors to a public library are significant cultural events. 

Librarians rightly argue that they are spending dwindling public resources on e-books, so they should get a break. Part of their job is to help build a literate society, which is essential to a strong democracy. They also make a strong case that libraries generate business for publishers. 

“We know book borrowers are also book buyers, and we find that e-book borrowers are also e-book buyers, and that pattern won’t change,” says Sari Feldman, cochair of the American Library Association’s e-book committee.

Related posts:
Carl Zimmer responds to Franzen.  (1/31/2012)
It's only Monday but this is still the best ebook headline of the week.  (1/20/2012)
Jonathan Franzen has something to say about ebooks.  (1/30/2012)
As they have been doing all along, libraries adapt to technology.  (1/29/2012)
Floating an Idea: The Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory's Library License.  (1/17/2012) 
Getting in line @ your library for ebooks.  (1/15/2012)
The Post-Christmas ebook sales surge. (1/10/2012)
Honey, we've been 'trying' it.  For years.  (12/25/2011)
Chris Bohjalian on our totemic connection to books.  (12/20/2011)
Hold that bricks-and-mortar bookstore obituary.  (12/13/2011)
Your local public library: The greenest option of all in the ebooks vs. print books debate.  (12/11/2011)
Go directly to Amazon, do not pass library.  (11/3/2011)
Ebooks in U.S. public libraries.  (10/22/2011)
How ebook buyers discover books.  (9/27/2011)
Cookbooks make the transition to digital publishing.  (9/27/2011)
Redefining what an ebook is and who gets to publish it. (9/19/2011)
The L.A.Times on ebooks: An Amazon tablet, push into interactivity. (9/16/2011)
The Economist:  "Great digital expectations".  (9/16/2011)
Lev Grossman presents a short history of the reading device..  (9/6/2011)
Speaking of gadgets, here's the latest iteration of ebooks.  (8/25/2011)
Sounds like another digital divide in the making.  (7/30/2011)
Libraries and ebooks:  Any book, not any time soon.  (6/1/2011)
On the distinction between the book reader and the book owner.  (5/10/2011)
Demand for ebooks grows exponentially in Wisconsin.  (5/2/2011)
Struggling to find an ebook common agenda between libraries and publishers.  (4/5/2011)
Ebooks and libraries:  "The challenges just keep piling up".  (3/28/2011)
Publishers Weekly tracks ebook sales.  (3/18/2011)
Word is getting out:  Ebooks @ your library.  (3/18/2011)
Ebooks continue to gain market share.  (3/17/2011)
Publishers look to bottom line in formulating ebook policies for libraries. (3/15/2011)
News stories on HarperCollins ebook decision go mainstream.  (3/5/2011)
9 years of book sales:  trade and ebook.  (2/17/2011)
Will ebook readers be wooed by Barbara Cartland?  (2/12/2011)
The impact of ebooks on libraries.  (2/11/2011)
OverDrive news release: Library eBook circs up 200% in '10. (1/10/2011)
Mashable: 5 ebook trends that will change the future of publishing. (12/29/2010)
Christmas 2010 the tipping point for ebooks?  (12/24/2010)
Ereader as brown paper bag.  (12/9/2010)
The ebook reader compatibility surprise.  (12/3/2010)
Ereader ownership:  Survey says....  (11/30/2010)
David Carnoy asks, "Does the Kindle pay for itself?" (11/29/2010)
Need to repair that ebook reader?  (11/19/2010)
Who uses an ereader:  Survey says....  (9/22/2010)
Book industry wrestles with print vs. pixels.  (9/2/2010)
Coming soon to a screen near you:  Ads in ebooks.  (8/20/2010)
Ebooks now comprise 8.5% of book sales. (8/12/2010)
Genre paperback publishers drops print.  (8/6/2010)
Ebooks and libraries.  (5/4/2010)
Ebooks eliminate a free form of adversiting:  the book jacket.  (3/31/2010)
Ebooks: another round of false promises?  (3/19/2010)
The skinny on ebooks.  (3/8/2010)
Hardcover vs. ebook:  Breaking down the costs.  (3/1/2010)

Wisconsin Earns a C- on State Integrity Investigation Corruption Risk Report Card

Probably just a C if graded on a curve.  (And the map seems to show Wisconsin after it's been out in the sun a little too long.  Shouldn't we be a little more peachy?)

LINK

LINK

Methodology.

List with brief descriptions of the investigative categories.

About the investigation project partners.

Whittling Down the Cost of a Proposed Renovation @ the Brown County Public Library

LINK to slide show

Proposal cuts cost of Brown County Central Library repairs. (Green Bay Press-Gazette, 3/19/2012)

Excerpt:   Under pressure to cut the cost of their proposed renovations, backers of Northeastern Wisconsin's largest public library have trimmed the price tag and are floating an idea that includes the selling of naming rights, and a possible partnership with a food retailer. 

A proposal from the Brown County Library Board of Trustees would use a mix of public and private funding to make repairs and improvements, now pegged at about $14.8 million, to the central library in downtown Green Bay. 

The figure, which supporters say could be reduced by more than $1 million if additional grant money can be secured, is about $8 million less than earlier estimates to make the facility useful for years into the future. But it still is more than the $10 million that some lawmakers have said is reasonable. 

The board's proposal includes a combination of upgrades to major features like boilers and elevators, and changes that include enclosing the library's front patio.

State of the art when it opened in the early 1970s.

Related articles:
Press-Gazette editorial board issues call to action on Brown County Central Library   (9/21/2011)
Continuing discussions of library's maintenance upgrades.  (9/19/2011)
Brown County Central Library @ the heart of its community. (4/11/2011)
Committee to consider 5-step, $14 million upgrade to address library code violations.  (2/19/2011)
Speaking up for the Brown County library renovation. (12/5/2010)
Aging library needs to address code violation.  (11/26/2010)
$600,000 for code compliance is cut.  (11/3/2010)