{"id":81138,"date":"2014-09-15T06:30:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T11:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=81138"},"modified":"2014-09-15T10:35:45","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T15:35:45","slug":"the-real-netflix-for-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=81138","title":{"rendered":"The Real Netflix for Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Angie Solis, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ Missouri\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Real Netflix for Books<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"AngieSolis\"<\/a>Modern libraries are beginning to have more and more competition in the world. One of which is\u00a0Amazon\u2019s new Unlimited Service. What I\u2019ve noticed is that there has been a ton of backlash from\u00a0the library community in an attempt to preserve the traditional library and it\u2019s services to the public.\u00a0As librarians and even information professionals, there’s no way we can dispute the importance and\u00a0relevance of the library in today’s society. I’m an avid user of Amazon and it’s services but I think the\u00a0Unlimited service is a bit much. But it\u2019s not just Amazon and the internet in general that challenges\u00a0the libraries of today, there\u2019s also companies like Oyster who claims to be the \u201cNetflix of books\u201d along\u00a0with others. Is this something that is likely to hurt libraries or is it something the public recognizes as\u00a0a service that has little value? Proponents of Amazon\u2019s Unlimited Service also boast it as the \u201cNetflix\u00a0for books”. But is it really fair to make this comparison? I don’t think it is as there isn’t a free library of\u00a0movies on the same scale as Netflix the way that libraries lend books to patrons. Not only is this not the\u00a0same in my opinion but could this really be hurting society by threatening the livelihood of libraries?<\/p>\n

Librarians and information professionals aren\u2019t the only people skeptical of the claims that Amazon or\u00a0Oyster will succeed as the \u201cNetflix for books\u201d.<\/strong> The New York Times wrote about the advent of book\u00a0renting services that are hampered by the lack of newer and older titles in their collections. All the big\u00a0name websites offering these services have \u201csomething to be desired\u201d and among other things a library\u00a0card is still a more viable option for reading books. The Verge<\/a> also published an article noting that\u00a0Amazon\u2019s Unlimited Service might be doomed before it starts. The article notes that Amazon has the\u00a0potential to be a successful service but lacks the support of some big name publishers to allow them to\u00a0succeed. Finally, International Business Times<\/a> published a great article on Oyster and how it lacks the\u00a0value to actually be the \u201cNetflix of books\u201d. According to this article, \u201cthis isn\u2019t a new concept. Public\u00a0libraries provide the exact same content for free. The only benefit for Oyster subscribers is the ease of\u00a0access. You just don\u2019t have to go to the library. But libraries provide so much more than just books.\u201d\u00a0And even now, many libraries offer digital versions of many books that patrons can check out from\u00a0the comfort of their own home. I think these articles answer my previous questions. While Amazon\u00a0Unlimited and Oyster may be convenient services they don\u2019t offer what libraries offer. They don\u2019t offer\u00a0community involvement or content for the cost of a library card. These book renting services require\u00a0that you pay to receive the same services and I think that the public will recognize this fact. So, are\u00a0libraries in danger? I think not and I hope that the public will acknowledge this as well.<\/p>\n

And still, there is good news for librarians on the horizon. According to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cAmerica may be running out of sea captains and librarians.\u201d That\u2019s great news right? Absolutely!\u00a0The same article notes that a shortage in labor will result in faster wage growth. While this doesn\u2019t\u00a0necessarily help job seekers now, I believe that it is reassuring to know that there is potential job\u00a0advancement and wage growth for librarians that are entering the field now and in the near future. I\u00a0don\u2019t know about you, but I plan to keep a positive outlook on the field and its future. Who\u2019s with me?\u00a0From now on, let\u2019s make Libraries the Netflix for books and think happy thoughts about the future of the\u00a0profession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Angie Solis, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ Missouri\u00a0 The Real Netflix for Books Modern libraries are beginning to have more and more competition in the world. One of which is\u00a0Amazon\u2019s new Unlimited Service. What I\u2019ve noticed is that there has been a ton of backlash from\u00a0the library community in an attempt to preserve the traditional library and…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[6563,6565,6564,5949,69,3592,3640,6562],"class_list":["post-81138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-amazon","tag-amazon-oyster","tag-amazon-unlimited-service","tag-angie-solis","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-missouri","tag-the-real-netflix-for-books"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/AngieSolis.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-l6G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}