Ding, Dong the Book Is Dead!

To anyone who is worried about the survival of the printed book I present this:

Yes, that is Captain Jean Luc Picard, enjoying a hardcover book in the 24th century.

Case closed. Books aren’t going anywhere.

…..

Okay. Fine. So maybe only sexy, refined men will continue to read hardcover books, and the rest of us will make use of paperback books, e-books, audio books…Ugh, I can’t even get worked up about it. We still have movies even with the advent of tv. Some are still in black and white even with color film. Not every movie is in 3D yet. We still have stage plays, for pete’s sake. Although cassettes and 8 tracks are gone, we still have Cds (for the moment) and records (enjoying a new resurgence). Radio is still around, and if you include podcasts its more popular than ever. And while digital books might be taking a larger share of the market, regular ol’ paper books are still being sold, and after everyone figures out their preferred mode of reading, sales will probably even out between the two.

The thing is, I wouldn’t worry about any of our storytelling mediums, because people will always want and need stories, and people will always have preferences for how they want to experience those stories. In Chicago, where I live, I’ve attended a couple of the Moth Storyslams, which is just live storytelling on a theme, and that event sells out every single month. If live storytelling—the oldest form of storytelling there is—still has a home in this world, then the beloved book has absolutely nothing to worry about.

But you don’t have to take MY word for it—check out these other articles for corroboration!

http://www.ebookanoid.com/2011/02/28/harpers-want-to-kill-library-ebook-lending-well-almost/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Kindle-Nook-Other-EReaders-Wrecking-Publishing-Industry-Report-407632/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384785,00.asp
http://www.readingreality.net/2011/05/will-ebooks-kill-print-books/
http://www.3news.co.nz/Man-aims-to-collect-one-of-every-book-ever-published/tabid/418/articleID/220745/Default.aspx

Welcome to the Official BEA 2012 Librarian Blogger!

Before we introduce the 2012 Official BEA Librarian Blogger, we want to thank the 2011 Official BEA Librarian Blogger, Jill Dugas Hughes. We appreciate all of Jill’s work in helping BEA with our Librarian Blog for the 2011 event.

Now we would like to welcome the 2012 Official BEA Librarian Blogger: Julie Jurgens, Youth Services Librarian from Chicago, IL. Julie loves science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction, and can't imagine beginning the day without a good cup of coffee! Before attending library school, Julie (or Miss Julie if you're under 10) worked in early childhood education, which is a topic she'll gladly talk to you about as long as you let her. You can follow her on twitter at twitter.com/himissjulie, and, of course, here on the Official BEA Librarian Blog!

Please give Julie a warm welcome to the BEA blogosphere. We’re thrilled to be working with Julie for 2012 and look forward to her thoughts, insights, and to her creating some dynamic conversations with all our Librarian followers about the industry and BEA!

Pre BEA Conference Highlights

The BEA exhibit hall doesn't open until tomorrow, but I have already been very impressed with the pre-conference! WOW! First, I stopped by the BEA info booth where a very knowledgeable *person* walked me through all the reasons to download the BEA event app on my iPhone. She was right, the app was just what I needed to organize my day! It was much easier to navigate than the website.
Next, I attended a FABULOUS session:
The E-Book Era is Now. What does it look like from the consumer perspective? And what do we do about it? Kelly Gallagher, General Manager, Business Intelligence, RR. Bowker, clearly articulated the growth and potential of the eBook market. In October, eBook sales grew by approximately 11%. Gallagher predicted that Amazon is getting more seriously into the content space and will soon break into the publishing stratosphere. Today's eBook *power buyer* is 66% female (compared to just 49% in 2009), with a household income of $77K, who reads mostly romance. 50% of all eBooks sold are fiction. 18% of these *power buyers* represent a whopping 61% of the total eBook purchases and most have a dedicated eReader.
What does this mean for libraries????
1. Libraries who are not purchasing eBooks need to do so, fast.
2. Ebook subscription services need to change to meet the needs of the library consumer.
3. Libraries need to have these same types of consumer studies that the publishers have
*Note* Bowker and Library Journal are partnering together to do this! Yay! Press Release slated to go out today.
4. Libraries need to become experts on the different types of eReader devices and provide options for patrons to try them out and be trained on how to use them.
5. Libraries need to have *video tutorials* on how to use their eBook subscription service for the FIRST time. Downloading the applications is often confusing, even for a tech savy individual.
6. Libraries and Consortiums should hire tech-savy teams to create better electronic delivery experiences with more options for social networking, eg. sharing recommendations with a friend etc.
None of this is necessarily "new" but it is certainly interesting to have been able to see the consumer market research driving next generation models. I highly recommend librarians to look beyond the "Bea Loves Librarians" program tracks to find the cutting edge research and technology. To find out more about consumer attitudes surveys and to suggest questions, contact Angela@BISG.org. If you need a great speaker to discuss current markets and predicting the future of ebooks, Kelly.Gallagher@bowker.com was great!