Have you hugged your library today?

My family laughed at me this year when I mentioned that I was thankful for libraries because they do such good work.

But it's no joke. They really do! Here's an example:

At University of Nebraska-Omaha, the reference department was looking for a new answer to the Interlibrary loan problem. Students wanted materials faster, and couldn't wait the 48 hours to receive an article via email because their paper was due in 10. The library purchased Kindle's so that students could purchase the article and walk away with the technology right then and there. Unfortunately, Amazon's collection of peer-reviewed journal articles is not quite as extensive as their popular fiction, so the service flopped.

Rather than giving up entirely, the reference staff came up with a new idea. Academic libraries do not historically build popular fiction into their collection development each year, even though students from all subject areas ask for it. Rather than trying to build a collection from scratch, they used the Kindle's. This eliminated the space issues, and made sure the technology investment was put to good use. Before budgets became tight, UNO students could request a new book, and the library would purchase it for them on the Kindle and then rent out the machine for 2 weeks (with an option of one renew). Now that budgets are smaller, students can still rent the Kindle and purchase what they want, with the understanding that the library will delete the purchase when it is turned back in. Not only can students get the books they want at a fraction of the cost, but they also get to test drive the Kindle to see if they like it. The way I see it - Amazon owes UNO quite a bit of money. I'm sure if UNO wanted to expand their collection, they could even get Amazon to donate the product.

The next time you're at the library, thank a librarian for all that they do. Then ask them to give me a job. We're all in this together.