New library to be book-less

San Antonio's BiblioTech will be an entirely digital reading room.

By Britt Olson MSN Living Editor Jan 17, 2013 3:53PM

San Antonio’s Bexar County seeks to reverse the traditional model of a library with an entirely digital public library, the BiblioTech, which will open this autumn.

BiblioTech will be one of the first digital-only libraries of its kind.

Many public institutions have only begun to implement new technologies. Take libraries. Although computers are available at most, they often function as a search auxiliary and not as the primary media source.

But at BiblioTech personal computers, laptops and tablets will replace the hardcover volumes, paperbacks, newspapers and magazines that usually line the shelves of traditional reading rooms. Although thousands of titles will be accessible to patrons, not a single book will be available at Bexar’s new facility.

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Library members will be permitted to check out e-readers loaded with an assortment of e-books and media. There will be study areas and meeting rooms in addition to an interactive children’s play area.

In a statement, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff remarked, "The ever changing landscape of technology means that literacy is no longer about picking up a physical book and being able to comprehend the words; technology is changing the way we read, learn and thrive as citizens of the 21st Century.”

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The hope is that the new library will introduce digital platforms to communities that may otherwise lack access to technology. And although this library is a pilot program, the BiblioTech is not intended to replace paper everywhere.

So bibliophiles shouldn't find the BiblioTech threatening.

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Photo: Courtesy of Bexar County, Texas

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72Comments

Best

Jan 21, 2013 2:56PM

Half the fun of a library is finding something you WERE NOT LOOKING FOR!

Previous replies

Someone (TomNV)

Jan 21, 2013 12:34PM

Someone in Texas has a sense of humor. Biblio Tech is very close to the Spanish word, "biblioteca" which in English is "library". The irony of this debate over whether or not it needs books is that it's being discussed electronically.

I write books and offer them to the public in both formats. The key is reading.

Previous replies

lisac302

Jan 21, 2013 3:36PM

A library without books...will they have one in a display case as an artifact? To me, this is sad & scary news (will we be burning books next). Here is yet another example wherein the powers that be assume (especially in this economy) that everyone has or even wants the latest technology. Like the dinosaurs I too will one day be extinct but give me a big old fat book any day of the week. I want to feel its weight, I want to turn it's pages, I want to use my pretty bookmarks. I have a library in my home and books are stuffed every which way and it gives me such pleasure to "shop" my shelves to find the next great book to read. I also enjoy being a patron of my local library where I donate most of my books and where I know I can always count on the librarians to be a wealth of information and where I LOVE exploring it's musty shelves. But hey....now that "real" books are becoming extinct, perhaps they'll become super valuable and I can sell them and fund my retire!! My motto is "Life is short.....read fast" - - real books that is!!

Previous replies

wade (LuvFreckles)

Jan 21, 2013 3:14PM

And what do they do if the power goes out? Backup genrators. No power no gas for the generators. One of the worst ideas I have heard of since not teaching cursive writing in school. E-readers? Kid loses or breaks his e-reader the parents are on the hook for a lot more than a lost book. How bout another kid steals his e-reader? Bad idea.

Previous replies

Old F391

Jan 21, 2013 2:23PM

When a E book has been around as long as a Gutenberg bible
Then we'll talk.

What happens when the current format is no longer compatible with the next latest and greatest ?

Previous replies

ZEEBART

Jan 21, 2013 11:08AM

who is going to make sure that what you read is what was written

Previous replies

just not

Jan 21, 2013 3:10PM

Will people be able to read digital books 200 years from now? Digital technology is great but I don't think the current technology will survive 200 years. All of the history and literature that has survived on paper all these centuries. How are we going maintain the digital archive over the millennia?