My hometown San Antonio is often leading edge when it comes to innovation. In 2013, the BiblioTech Digital Library, the first all-digital public library in the U.S. opened. Since then, they’ve added a second location in San Antonio along with a downtown jury duty room for those with time on their hands while stuck in you-know-what.
BiblioTech doesn’t just loan eBooks to their members; they also lend Nooks and Kindle reader devices as well. State-of-the-art desktop computers and conference rooms with high-tech services are available for members. Library membership is free to residents, taxpayers, and employees of San Antonio in Bexar County (pronounced ‘Bear’).
The library’s mission is admirable: “Provide all Bexar County residents technology access to enhance education and literacy, promote reading as recreation, and equip all members of our community with necessary tools to thrive as citizens of the digital age.”
Besides loaning out eBooks, courses and events fill the monthly calendar. Training ranges from computer basics such as creating an email account to using Adobe Photoshop. They also assist with resume building and host weekly book clubs, including one for teens and another on comic books. Children story-telling and movie screenings are also part of the mix.
BiblioTech has been so popular and successful that another branch is opening in early 2018, with further expansion to Texas border cities, Laredo and El Paso, in the works. Link for more info: Bibliotech
If you haven’t yet read a digital book, here’s an idea for your new year’s resolution. My first eBook was the doorstop-sized biography of Steve Jobs, and he would have been pleased. I read it on his invention, my iPad!
Karen Stensgaard is the author of the novel AQUAVIT, the first book in the Aquamarine Sea Series with a second novel underway. AQUAVIT is available as a paperback from Amazon and Ingram Spark or as an e-book from almost everyone else. Libraries have free access via Overdrive. Link to free chapters on Amazon
KAREN STENSGAARD 