By Peter Stuart
Smith (AKA Max Adams, James Barrington, James Becker, Tom Kasey, Thomas Payne
and Jack Steel)
This will be my last blog post for about three weeks
because on Sunday I'm flying out to Hong Kong to join the Queen Mary 2
for a cruise lasting about two and a half weeks, and as usual I'll be giving
lectures on the ship before I fly back from Sydney. It'll be a couple of quite
long long haul flights, which I'm not really looking forward to, but at least
there'll be a lot of sea time as the ship heads south across the Pacific Ocean
to Australia, so there'll be no excuse for not getting quite a bit of work
done.
One thing
this liner does have, as well as its more unusual and better publicised
features, like the world's only oceangoing planetarium, is a decent library,
and that sparked a train of thought. With the increasing domination in the
marketplace of electronic books, pieces of text that in at least one sense
don't really exist, what is the future for libraries? Suppose one of the many
predictions about the future of the publishing industry comes true and most
novels end up being released as ebooks rather than paperbacks? Can you have a
virtual library, and if you can, how would it work?
In fact,
libraries do seem to be under threat. You may recall the British government's
ill-advised plan to close down most of them, the spin doctors claiming by a
piece of tortuous illogic that this would somehow improve the service to the
public, and now it seems that much the same thing is happening in America.
Obviously in a time of recession cuts do need to be made in many services, and
it's probably only fair that libraries should also share the burden. And of
course libraries do require funding if they are to remain up-to-date and
relevant, not least because they have to buy books, and books cost money.
According
to a report in Library Journal, almost two thirds of libraries in
America saw an increase in their budget last year, albeit a maximum of only 2.9%,
and with an overall average figure of just over 1%, but costs, expenses and
salary increases far outpaced this, leading to a net reduction in operating revenue,
while the remaining third of libraries surveyed saw a significant drop in their
funding. About a quarter of libraries were forced to cut staff simply to make
ends meet. Predictably, the bulk of the materials budget – about 60% – is
applied to book purchases, while spending on ebooks, audiobooks and music
languish in single figures.
The other
thing which is clear about libraries is that they do need to change to reflect the
changing lifestyles of their potential customers. It's no longer enough just to
fill wooden shelves with hardback books and wait for people to walk in through
the door. They needed to make going to the library a pleasurable and relevant experience,
which might well mean branching out in non-traditional directions, such as
providing comfortable chairs, a coffee bar, Internet access (though many do
this already) and anything else which will help improve the experience of their
customers.
But
without doubt they still fulfil an important need, by bringing people in the
community together, and providing comprehensive and professional access to all
manner of reading and communication materials in one place. This is
particularly important for people who may not have enough disposable income to
buy books for themselves, or may simply lack the skills needed to operate a
home computer.
They are also important for authors, and not just
because of PLR payments. I have done many talks in libraries around the United
Kingdom, which has assisted me in generating publicity and gaining recognition
as a writer, and I would like to think that in some small way I helped the
budding authors who came along to listen to me. And, finally, even in this
digital age, libraries hold reference materials and written resources which are
frequently not available anywhere else.
In short,
our libraries are important and we need to keep them, guard them jealously and
do whatever we can to make sure they survive. And authors are particularly
well-placed to help in one way.
Whenever a new book is released, the publishers
invariably send a number of free copies to the author. It has long been my
policy that my local library in England is one of the first to receive a copy.
It cost me nothing, but it puts my books on their shelves, which not only saves
them money, but also must increase my exposure, and generates a little bit of
free publicity.
But
exactly how the library system will work when the ebook finally comes to
dominate the market – which I'm quite convinced that it will – I have no idea.
You can contact me at:
Twitter:
@pss_author
Facebook:
Peter Stuart Smith
Blogs: The
Curzon Group
Website link: Brit
Writers
