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Jul. 17th, 2007 10:15 amIf Public Libraries Didn’t Exist, Could You Start One Today?
It's an interesting article, hinting at the assumption that book publishers would not allow libraries in their current form, in the same way that music and video publishers are fighting tooth and nail to try to make everybody pay for each use of a song or film that they watch.
Are libraries a crucial part of society, providing knowledge and entertainment to the benefit of all? Or are they responsible for supressing the writing market, thus discouraging people from careers in writing, perhaps even putting many people off reading and writing as a result? Many of the justifications given by the music and film industries apply equally well to the book publishing industry.
There's always the argument that libraries might sell more books as a side-effect of increased public exposure to them, but that seems unlikely given that radio and file-sharing seem to reduce music purchases and television seems to reduce cinema attendance. There is probably little demand to purchase a book that you can legitimately borrow, after all. Should books alone get the library treatment due to their educational content? What about films then, many of which are quite informative or of cultural importance? How about music (already available in libraries, though usually in limited quantities), or computer games?
It's an interesting article, hinting at the assumption that book publishers would not allow libraries in their current form, in the same way that music and video publishers are fighting tooth and nail to try to make everybody pay for each use of a song or film that they watch.
Are libraries a crucial part of society, providing knowledge and entertainment to the benefit of all? Or are they responsible for supressing the writing market, thus discouraging people from careers in writing, perhaps even putting many people off reading and writing as a result? Many of the justifications given by the music and film industries apply equally well to the book publishing industry.
There's always the argument that libraries might sell more books as a side-effect of increased public exposure to them, but that seems unlikely given that radio and file-sharing seem to reduce music purchases and television seems to reduce cinema attendance. There is probably little demand to purchase a book that you can legitimately borrow, after all. Should books alone get the library treatment due to their educational content? What about films then, many of which are quite informative or of cultural importance? How about music (already available in libraries, though usually in limited quantities), or computer games?
