Some Surprises From a Glimpse Into a Texas "Bookless Library"

Bexar County, Texas officials
announcing in January, 2013 plans
to build a "bookless library"
(Image: bexarlibrary.org)

An Associated Press story picked up in today's Mercury News reported on a "bookless" library in Bexar County, Texas and its principal city, San Antonio. What's meant by "bookless" isn't the same as "contentless." It's all about digital delivery and the presumed window into a library's not-so-distant future, brought to a presumably grateful population by high tech and its enablers. The Texas library staff's ironic aping of Apple employee outfits and assumed "helpful" behavior was not lost on the AP reporter. Neither was the opening of a "bookless" library in a downscale neighborhood where few people can afford Silicon Valley's "must have" gadgets and for-pay content.

What went unobserved was the quality of the library's collection, the "content" patrons wanted, and the materials unavailable at the "bookless" facility. Intriguingly, the removal of shelves was discussed as something of a positive feature. The AP story notes that a "bookless" library is cheaper to build and maintain than its Carnegie predecessors. And there would be no more silly fines, disfigured books, or wait times for an item.

The AP writer did not explore a print book's still-potent ability to elude control. A print book lacks traceable keystrokes, trackable "friends," searchable history. A printed book can be passed to others without a record of its antecedent readers. Those qualities make a printed book potentially "disruptive" and politically destabilizing. Far from being "old school," printed materials encourage independent, even revolutionary perspectives in tune with today's yearning for liberty.

Yes, "content yearns to be free" -- just not in the form tech's high priests envisioned. There's some pleasure to be taken from that ironic outcome and, more importantly, action undertaken with a printed book's advantages in mind.

Texas City Transforms Abandoned Walmart Into Public Library

Once a Walmart, now a public library
(photo and associated story from Latina)

In a rare instance of civic development jiu-jitsu, the South Texas city of McAllen has transformed the ugly duckling of an abandoned Walmart into a charming prince of a public library. The approximately 124,000 square foot structure is now the largest single-story library in the United States. Its presence has encouraged patronage, as the library has experienced a 23% registration increase since the former Walmart structure's rehabilitation. The story about McAllen's library initiative appeared in the Co.Exist portion of Fast Company.

The irony is that a library's physical presence still has important community impact. This is especially true in areas with high poverty levels, such as Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where McAllen is situated. There are some things e-books just don't replace: a physical sense of community is among them.

Bravo, McAllen!