Bookless libraries are public, academic and school

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

that do not have any printed books. Instead they offer all-digital collections of literary works, reading material and scientific and academic research material. A bookless library typically uses the space that would have once been used for books to offer public computers, e-readers and other technology used to consume and produce digital media. Over the last decade, driven by changes in

scholarly communication Scholarly communication involves the creation, publication, dissemination and discovery of academic research, primarily in peer-reviewed journals and books. It is “the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evalu ...

, several major

research libraries A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...

have successfully become bookless.

Outlook

Bookless libraries are often considered a potential model for future libraries, with modernization, increased availability of space and lower costs cited as potential benefits. However, bookless libraries face many challenges, including the public's strong attachment to

print media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

in libraries. In 2002 the Santa Rosa Branch Library offered a digital-only library to patrons, only to bring books back into the library after a surge in public demand. Problems with access and

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

also limit the utility of bookless libraries, since a majority of digital content is still not available for borrowing online and much more has never been digitized. Library patrons are also resistant to the idea. In a 2013 Pew survey, only 20% of Americans said libraries should "definitely move some print books and stacks out of public locations to free up more space for things such as tech centers, reading rooms, meetings rooms, and cultural events."

Examples

In 2012, the William H. Welch Medical Library at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

closed its physical building and moved completely online. “We’ve looked at the trends and seen that use of the building has gone down, the circulation of paper material has gone down, at the same time we’ve seen very large increases in the use of online materials," said the library's director, Nancy Roderer, in a 2012 interview with ''Library Journal''. "That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for other libraries but it is the right thing for us." In transitioning to a learning commons model,

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conven ...

in Liberty, Missouri, replaced its print media with online resources in its reimagined library. The new

Florida Polytechnic University Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly) is a public university in Lakeland, Florida. Created as an independent university in 2012, it is the newest of the 12 institutions in the State University System of Florida. It is the state's only p ...

library is also free of print media. The Director of Libraries, Kathryn Miller, notes the importance of access to information, regardless of form. "We want our students to recognize when they have an information need," she said, "and be able to locate the relevant information to apply it in a scholarly and, ultimately, professional way."

Public libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundament ...

are also exploring bookless buildings. The BiblioTech library is one of the first bookless public libraries. Benilde-St. Margaret's, a Catholic preparatory school, removed nearly all printed books from its collection in 2011.

References

{{reflist Libraries by type Digital media Types of library

Outlook

Examples

See also

References