The times, as a certain B. Dylan once said, are a-changin’. The Brumback Library, the very first county library formed in the United States, is now expanding its services to include eBooks, audiobooks, digital music and digital video.
Patrons of the Brumback may now browse the Ohio eBook Project website, check out any materials with a valid library card, and download their content to a PC, Mac, or other mobile devices. Apple, Android, Blackberry, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, and Windows devices are all supported. Sure, it’s not the same as thumbing through worn, well-loved vintage Penguin paperbacks, but this is progress , people.
The Brumback Library has five branches located across Ohio, and is described on its official site as “an outstanding example of great foresight and philanthropy, a true cultural legacy.” The first branch was opened on January 1, 1901, and has over 181,000 items covering every imaginable topic and genre – the library’s are also renowned for their excellent Children’s Department.
I guess the Brumback’s adoption of digital media is a sign of how libraries must change to survive. The rise of the Ebook means widespread library closures have been taking place across the United States (and here in the UK also) for a few years now – a crying shame for fans of these unique, charmingly old-fashioned places.
So bravo to you, Brumback. May you still be open another 110 years from now, zapping holographic books and video straight into our Matrix-style brain jacks.
