Honestly, I just don’t know how I feel about this. Granted, libraries get some money and that’s a good thing, but the customers are still not actually “purchasing” something…
The 3M Cloud Library service has just inked a deal with Kobo to allow libraries to sell eBooks on their websites. When patrons click the BUY button, they will be taken to the Kobo Bookstore to finalize their digital book purchases. 3M will donate a portion of each book sale to the library for use in purchasing additional eBooks from the 3M Cloud Library. With library budgets under constant pressure, this additional revenue stream can be a valuable way to enhance collections.
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
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Honestly, I just don’t know how I feel about this. Granted, libraries get some money and that’s a good thing, but the customers are still not actually “purchasing” something…