BiblioTech is the first and only all-digital public library in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It serves residents of

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Brau ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. There are three BiblioTech branches and one satellite branch.

History

The first BiblioTech location opened on September 14, 2013. The County-operated library cost $2.3 million (USD) and is located on the underserved south side of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas and the seventh largest city in the U.S., but ranks 60th in

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

. The library had over 400,000 visitors in its first four years. BiblioTech's second branch, the Dr. Richard Romo BiblioTech, opened in July 2015 on the west side of San Antonio; it also serves the residents of Bexar County. A third branch, on the city's east side, opened in April 2018.

Offerings

The library lends

e-reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...

s and

digital content Digital content is any content that exists in the form of digital data. Also known as digital media, digital content is stored on digital or analog storage in specific formats. Forms of digital content include information that is digitally broad ...

rather than physical media. BiblioTech lends

s to those with a BiblioTech card; about half of the e-readers are on loan at any given time. Each e-reader can hold up to five books. Members with a library card can also download the cloudLibrary app to read eBooks from their personal device (iOS, Android, Windows). BiblioTech also offers online databases and educational resources, programming, and many touch-screen video tablets with interactiv
Kaplan Early Learning Company
educational games.

List of databases

The library arranges for its patrons access to digital content from several providers. Some resources are free of charge to the library, and some require paid subscriptions.

Comparison to traditional libraries

All-

digital libraries A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital m ...

have existed on college campuses for years, but this is the first all-digital public library. Head librarian Ashley Eklof says that in her former librarian job at a traditional library, items would get misplaced, vandalized, and go missing altogether, but she hasn't had any problems with e-readers disappearing. The county also saved millions on some expenses, the architecture, and furniture required to store books, as well as the infrastructure to bear the weight of the books. The volumes they offer cost about the same as the physical books. Some readers prefer nondigital libraries. For critic Jeff Jacoby BiblioTech's all-digital library model lacks sensory enticements (such as shelves of books) that he believes foster serendipity in information discovery. He also notes the efficiency of printed books and appropriate delivery systems (such as Biblioburro) in some nonurban locales.

References

External links

* County library systems in Texas Libraries in San Antonio 2013 establishments in Texas {{Texas-stub