A Library Without Books

In 2002, Arizona’s Tucson-Pima public library system opened a branch without books, the first in the U.S. to attempt an all-digital existence. But just a few years later, the library phased in printed materials. Patrons demanded them. “I don’t think people could really envision a library without any books in it,” says Susan Husband, the Santa Rosa Branch manager.

The bookless library may have been ahead of its time a decade ago. Back then, libraries still had one overriding mission: lending books. There were no Kindles, no Nooks, no iPads. The few e-books that existed weren’t held by public libraries and made up just 0.05% of trade revenue, according to the Association of American Publishers. But with a quarter of Americans 16 and older now reading e-books, those behind San Antonio’s new Bexar County Digital Library, touted as the nation’s only all-digital public library, are convinced its time has come.

The $2.4 million, 4,000-sq.-ft. space, also known as BiblioTech, opened Sept. 14 and has been likened to an orange-hued Apple Store. Stocked with 10,000 e-books, 500 e-readers, 48 computers and 20 iPads and laptops, the digital library includes a children’s area, community rooms and a Starbucksesque caf* to encourage collaboration among patrons in an inviting space. And it will have zero print materials.

The notion of a bookless library no longer seems so daring, considering our drift toward all things digital. But it raises a basic question: What’s the point of a library without books?

“The library is no longer the place where you walk in and the thing you pay most attention to is the book collection,” says American Library Association president Maureen Sullivan. “It’s now a place where you’re immediately attuned to the variety of ways that people are making use of that space.”

Across the country, public library systems–including those in Chicago, the District of Columbia and Columbus, Ohio–have undergone radical transformations, often moving and consolidating book collections to make way for collaborative, digital-ready spaces that can adapt to emerging technologies. They are also trying to serve low-income Americans. BiblioTech, for one, is intended in part for the one-third of Bexar County residents who don’t have Internet service in their homes.

From 2000 to 2010, public library visits increased 32.7%, partly owing to the influx of patrons during the recession. Meanwhile, overall library funding has decreased every year since 2009. Last year, libraries in 30 states cut hours because of budget constraints. While funding concerns remain constant, a short-term obstacle is the battle with publishers over e-book access. For several years, the so-called Big Six publishers have either been unwilling to sell e-books to libraries or jacked up prices, making it tough for most to afford new best sellers.

At BiblioTech–which about 6,000 people visited the first week, borrowing 180 e-readers–the e-book collection doesn’t include one title in sync with the whole notion of a digital library: Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. “I don’t mind paying more for e-books, because they don’t wear out,” says Judge Nelson Wolff, who runs the county government and spearheaded BiblioTech. “But there’s a frustration level that I can’t get the one book that inspired me.”

Still, Wolff is happy with BiblioTech’s initial turnout and is confident that libraries’ latest evolution–open, collaborative and increasingly bookless–is a smart one. “It’s not the old days where you go off in a corner and keep your mouth shut. It’s a different world,” Wolff says. He’s convinced that his all-digital library will stay that way.