Have y'all heard of this?
Bookswim.com--the Netflix of books. So basically, you rent books and have them shipped to you. My first thought is, wait, isn't this just like going to the library, only um, not free? The plus is supposed to be that they have out of print and hard to find books. Well, okay-- I searched for one of my fav out of print peeps, Rosamund du Jardin, and they had nada. They did have Shug though, so yay-- but why not just go to the library? The library gets the new stuff and you can just put your name on a waiting list and voila, they hold it for you. I know people are all about the renting these days (prom dresses, movies, designer bags, groceries) but why fix something that isn't broken? The library works just fine and it's free. Are we so lazy that we need the books delivered to our doorstep? I mean, maybe this is good for people who are elderly and can't leave the house... But if you are that elderly then I doubt you are on the Internet ordering up books. Or fine, this is a good service for other people who can't leave the house. You'd still have to mosey over to your mailbox though, right?
posted by Jenny Han at 10:29 PM
13 Comments:
Speaking as someone who adores Netflix - and who hasn't checked out Bookswim at all - it's not laziness, but convenience, and not having to have my schedule revolve around someplace else's open hours, and having to park, etc. After working, commuting (for me, it's about an hour each way), etc., the last thing I want to do at night is go out again for errands like library books, or battle summer traffic to do that on my day off. Those after work hours and weekends are spent on family or part time jobs etc -- the more stuff I can do virtually, online, remotely, the better, whether it is the bank, the library, or Netflix.
My current place of work is for the blind and handicapped; we've been mailing materials for years to people who for one reason or another cannot come in to the library. It works very well, including those who are bedridden or housebound; and are currently moving towards an option to allow downloading books for those who have internet access.
I'm so torn on this one... I think it's good for a few groups of people
1. The homebound
2. Those who don't live near a library, or who have a really small library and want a larger selection
3. People who pay so much in overdue fines that they might as well pay for a service where they don't have to pay fines. :)
4. People who travel a lot-- heavy travel schedules can make it hard to return books on time.
What I really like though is that new service at some airport bookstores, where you can return a book for a partial refund after you've read it to any branch in an airport. It's like an airport library!
You inspired me to post at my own blog -- the airport thing intrigues me. I haven't seen that yet -- I'll be looking the next time I fly.
having grown up in a small town with a small library and no book stores for many many miles around-I can understand this service. I read close to a hundred books a year now and read more when I was young, I couldn't possibly have purchased everything I read. A lot of people in US live in small towns and rural areas and the burden of ordering and paying for every book they'd like to read-and may or may not enjoy-is onerous. I'm certain this service could provide an outlet to these folks.
Susan
All good points, yall! My final question is this: is it energy and cost efficient to ship all these heavy books? it's the same thing I struggle with about using FreshDirect, NY's online grocery delivery service. These big trucks zoom around the city all day, using up gas and making pollution, and they deliver the groceries to you in boxes-- sometimes putting one carton of eggs in a big box. It's way more convenient for me than lugging all this stuff home from a grocery store ten blocks away, but it's not exactly more responsible. Just food for thought.
The library district in which I work is the largest (mileage-wise) in the state and we are always trying to think of ways to make our services more convenient to the people who live on the outskirts of our district. We have bookdrops all over the place and several sets of lockers where patrons can request to pick up books so they don't have to go all the way in to the library. If it were feasible for us to offer some kind of Netflix-ish service, I bet they would eat it up.
Of course I think it's ridiculous to pay for a service like this rather than go to the library for free, but it's super convenient for me since, y'know, I go there every day and all...
I used to work at a disability library and we mailed books to patrons all over the state, so I know it can work on a very small scale. Maybe someday we'll figure out an effective way to do it large scale...
Shipping costs: media mail is still cheaper than regular mail.
Free Material for the Blind: that's how the NLS libraries for the blind & handicapped do it, and I'm not sure the ultimate costs etc.
Location: It can really depend on an individuals location; one person's local branch that is so convenient to walk to is anothers "oh i hate it because there is no parking and its on the other side of town" branch.
I guess with netflix/the mail, I figure the post office is going to these locations anyway, so the gas / salary cost isn't hugely impacted.
Re personal delivery: Jenny, now you're going to make me feel guilty about my pizza and chinese food delivery!! :-)
I do think it's a good idea for those who can't leave their house or don't have access to a library - and can afford the service. Am with you about the library system not being broken, though.
In general, though, these mail-order services make me a bit nervous about the future of human relations. Sure, it's only eliminating the simple, maybe wordless, interactions between yourself and the clerk and other customers, or in this case the librarian and the other patrons. But in our society with its endless social networking sites and the like, real community and connection is still hard to come by, and call me reactionary but these services often feel to me like one more nail in the coffin of isolation.
We have an excellent library service here in BC, but for the previous four years I lived in rural Tennessee. Not only was our library very small, but instead of buying YA & MG, it subscribed to a service. You probably know this, but I didn't until it was explained to me by the librarian. The library spends their budget on essentially renting books for about six months. Every six months, they send back the ones they've had and the service sends them a new batch. This allows them to have newer books, but it is also quite controversial in that the service decides which books to carry and that is not good for writers (necessarily, unless your book is chosen). Also, it opens the door for censorship (or even not carrying a book because you don't like the cover). So...at this library, I was able to get a variety of newer books, but it was not part of any system, so I couldn't "get a book from another branch" or anything like that. If I wanted to interlibrary loan a book, then I had to pay the postage to and from the other library. Also, it was six miles to town, so there's gas to think about (and carbon). If the mailman could've brought me books like this, I would've signed up in a heartbeat. Now I am very lucky. I can ride my bike to the library, I can get books from any branch on Vancouver Island, plus the Gulf Islands, and our library system is doing wonderful things like hiring Susan Juby to be the first ever writer in residence for the next year. But if you don't have these opportunities, and I'm afraid more and more people don't, then maybe this service will be good for some people.
One more thing. I used to live in Portland, OR and anyone can have books mailed to them from the MLC library system for...hmmm...maybe $2? I was thinking $1, but I think it's $2. Anyway, you do have to take them back yourself though.
With all the new technology, I fear for the library's longevity. I understand the convenience of having books delivered to your door, but then I would have missed out on the fun of actually visiting a library. There are so many books to choose from, old and new alike. It's quiet. People still speak in hushed voices. It is a peaceful place to lose yourself inside a book, and with today's fast paced life styles, that's a good thing. Long live the library.
I'm conflicted on this one, too. I'm a librarian, and I'm definitely guilty of loving ship-to-me services like Netflix and FreshDirect (the thing I miss more than anything since moving to the suburbs). I can't say it's laziness for me, either. If I wanted milk or a certain movie I have to watch Right Now I would go out to a store and pick it up. But I love being able to save lists of what I'd bought so I can dump it all in my cart next time, or keeping a queue of movies to help me keep track of what I want to see. Right now I work in a public library in a county system so all books are at my fingertips. But if I were in a school, I would consider something like this for the titles I don't have access to. I agree with Liz B, it's one more thing I can check off my to do list.
Now, if libraries moved towards this kind of convenience I would be ecstatic. Not necessarily the door to door thing, but why don't we have online queues and more flexible borrowing periods? If I could log in to my library account and see the list of books I want to read, view synopses/reviews/customer ratings of things, rearrange the order on my personal list, and know that when I return what I have out the next 2 or 3 will be ready to be picked up in a couple of days...I wouldn't go near a service like Bookswim. I'd be happy to swing by and pick up what's next on my list. That's what people are coming to expect, but the resources aren't there yet in libraries. I hope they're coming!
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