{"id":105618,"date":"2021-04-24T15:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/?p=105618"},"modified":"2023-09-21T18:20:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T16:20:22","slug":"library-future-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/library-future-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Library of the future: 8 technologies we would love to see"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Libraries lead the way to digital citizenship. They should be the first places where most advanced technologies are implemented.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, libraries are not only about lending books. They are\u00a0creative spaces, not only for individuals, but also for teams. They are economic incubators and learning hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group has-border-color has-background has-system-sans-serif-font-family is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-color:#dedede;border-width:1px;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);padding-top:1em;padding-right:1.5em;padding-bottom:1em;padding-left:1.5em\"><ul class=\"has-dates has-small-font-size wp-block-rss\"><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/top-free-ebooks-christmas-2023\/'>Free ebooks for Christmas 2023: here are the top 20 downloads<\/a><\/div><time datetime=\"2023-12-15T14:05:39+01:00\" class=\"wp-block-rss__item-publish-date\">Dec 15, 2023<\/time> <\/li><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/best-personalized-library-gifts\/'>12 best personalized gifts for librarians and library supporters<\/a><\/div><time datetime=\"2023-11-18T11:11:37+01:00\" class=\"wp-block-rss__item-publish-date\">Nov 18, 2023<\/time> <\/li><\/ul><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of all, the libraries are the entry points to the digital world. They are the way to embrace technology and avoid digital exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, to improve technological literacy of local communities, libraries should&nbsp;be equipped with relevant technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this articles you won&#8217;t find examples of how to use&nbsp;Google Hangouts for library meetings, or&nbsp;Pikochart to <a title=\"5 great examples how individual libraries promote themselves with infographics\" href=\"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/individual-libraries-infographics\/\">create library infographics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, I would like to go one step further and present technologies &#8211; some of them in a concept phase &#8211; that could be used in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And instead of general ideas, like wearables or augmented reality, you&#8217;ll see here real examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of these technologies seem to eat budgets dozens of&nbsp;times bigger than a public library can afford, but it&#8217;s not the point of this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The article is designed to spot technologies that will be&nbsp;relevant and useful in the libraries as they move along their digital roadmaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8&nbsp;technologies we would love to see in libraries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Library bookmark and&nbsp;guide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?resize=580%2C385&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Library bookmark\" class=\"wp-image-105624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?w=580&amp;ssl=1 580w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?resize=220%2C146&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?resize=540%2C358&amp;ssl=1 540w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?resize=332%2C220&amp;ssl=1 332w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-bookmark.jpeg?resize=160%2C106&amp;ssl=1 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An interesting concept from a Chinese design company Toout. This little tiny device is in the first place a regular bookmark. But on&nbsp;top of that&nbsp;it&nbsp;also has features that could make using the library much&nbsp;easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, the device would be a perfect companion when navigating through the library, by giving turn-by-turn directions to the book the patron wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The device&nbsp;could also keep track of all borrowed books, as well as&nbsp;remind the user of the return dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finding a book easily without knowing the Dewey Decimal Classification system? Sounds like a good idea of where the library card could evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Library bookmark by TOOUT Design\" href=\"http:\/\/www.toout.com\/en\/project_co_show.asp?id=139\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Augmented reality app<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"librARi - Interactive Experience at Library with Augmented Reality\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aMWDnvRBKiw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>librARi is a concept of an&nbsp;image based augmented reality application, created by&nbsp;Pradeep Siddappa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot has been said about using augmented reality in libraries, but there are few examples that would let us actually see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The video explaining how librARi works (AR in the name stands for &#8220;augmented reality&#8221;) is very decent, but it&#8217;s a benefit. It clearly highlights the best use of AR in libraries &#8211;&nbsp;locating the books on the shelves and navigating to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The app would point you to the new arrivals. It would also be able to&nbsp;find and point to similar books. Simple, but useful, and very probable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aMWDnvRBKiw\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Book delivery drone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"317\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-delivery-drone-Zookal-Flirtey.jpg?resize=540%2C317&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Book delivery drone Zookal Flirtey\" class=\"wp-image-105629\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-delivery-drone-Zookal-Flirtey.jpg?w=540&amp;ssl=1 540w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-delivery-drone-Zookal-Flirtey.jpg?resize=220%2C129&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-delivery-drone-Zookal-Flirtey.jpg?resize=332%2C195&amp;ssl=1 332w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-delivery-drone-Zookal-Flirtey.jpg?resize=160%2C94&amp;ssl=1 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To get the book from a library, you can either go and find it, or you can let it find you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The future belongs to unmanned flying machines, and just like Amazon drones can deliver the goods to customers, libraries&nbsp;could deliver the books to patrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Library drone is not even the close future. It&#8217;s already happening. Australian start-up&nbsp;Flirtey has teamed up with a&nbsp;book rental service Zookal to create&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;the first in the world &#8211; textbook delivery system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The system is using hexacopters, drones with six&nbsp;rotors, to deliver ordered textbooks. Now, the smart thing is that the drone can find you by the location of your smartphone, so there is no need to give a fixed address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just imagine.&nbsp;You are sitting in a reading room of the New York Public Library, in the middle of writing an essay, and&nbsp;want to get another book. Stay where you are, and use the app to order a book. The drone will come, <a title=\"Flying a drone inside the New York Public Library (video)\" href=\"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/flying-drone-inside-new-york-public-library-video\/\">just like this one<\/a>. Pull out the book from the box, and put the one or ones you don&#8217;t need any longer. The drone will place them where&nbsp;they belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would personally add&nbsp;an option to deliver latte&nbsp;from a library cafeteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Flirtey - real-time delivery by flying robots\" href=\"http:\/\/gajitz.com\/aussie-book-delivery-service-is-first-to-use-flying-drones\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Digital interface for print books<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Next Generation UI that can be touched with fingers against objects in the real world\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I2l0qklSzks?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone who tried&nbsp;ebooks would never give up the convenience of&nbsp;a&nbsp;digital&nbsp;interface and all other helpful&nbsp;tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Searching the content of the book (including smart search), looking for a reference on the web, getting&nbsp;an instant translation, writing&nbsp;notes, or&nbsp;collecting book passages &#8211; all this can be done on the same device that&nbsp;we use to read an ebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can obviously borrow an ebook instead of a print book, but here&nbsp;is a better idea &#8211;&nbsp;enhance&nbsp;the print book&nbsp;with a digital interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FingerLink is a project currently developed by Fujitsu that will let you use digital tools to work with a printed book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a stand you can put&nbsp;on a library desk. It includes two elements: a camera to read the info from the&nbsp;real world, and the projector to display digital&nbsp;info in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply, place the book on a table under the stand, and you&#8217;ll see extra options, available for the book. It&#8217;s because everything what FingerLink &#8220;sees&#8221; can be&nbsp;available and editable in a digital form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let&#8217;s push the imagination a bit further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nimble - A smarter way to read.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xlmDfU9SXYQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Nimble shows ways to use augmented reality in libraries (video)\" href=\"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/nimble-augmented-reality-libraries\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Nimble<\/a>&nbsp;is a concept of an advanced library augmented reality tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Designed by a London-based interactive designer and Google engineer Sures Kumar, Nimble does not only offer&nbsp;digital enhancement of a print book, but also incorporates the idea featured earlier in&nbsp;the post &#8211; the turn-by-turn library guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All these features can be accessed using the smart library card. An all-in-one solution to let patrons use the digital books to work with whichever content they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"FingerLink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.diginfo.tv\/v\/13-0025-r-en.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Library&nbsp;utensils<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"599\" height=\"457\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?resize=599%2C457&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Library utensils\" class=\"wp-image-105634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?w=599&amp;ssl=1 599w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?resize=220%2C168&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?resize=540%2C412&amp;ssl=1 540w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?resize=332%2C253&amp;ssl=1 332w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Library-utensils.jpg?resize=160%2C122&amp;ssl=1 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, introducing a system like FingerLink will exceed library&#8217;s yearly budget several times. There is a cheaper alternative. A library could offer patrons a variety of small utensils they could borrow to use in the reading room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the picture above you see Ivy Guide, a&nbsp;concept device, that you can put on your pen to use for translating words found&nbsp;in the print book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s just an example showing that such concepts are being created.&nbsp;The only thing is to find the most useful task for the library use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it could&nbsp;be a simple pen that would let patrons make digital highlights. One condition &#8211; it should be done in a simplest possible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the idea. The real-to-digital highlighter would be connected to a computer. When you&nbsp;highlight something&nbsp;&#8211; move&nbsp;along the text in a print book&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;it will immediately appear in the notepad app on a computer. All your highlights&nbsp;would be collected in a single text document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you are finished, simply send this note to your email address. The note will self-destruct&nbsp;the moment you close it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such library utensils would be useful for less tech-savvy library patrons or those who don&#8217;t use advanced apps (for instance the ones with OCR &#8211; optical character recognition) on their phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Pen translator\" href=\"http:\/\/www.yankodesign.com\/2013\/01\/21\/pen-translators-for-better-understanding\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Mobile library center<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meet the Ideas Box: A Library\/Media Center ready in 20 minutes!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9PiL1I1cBJI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, to engage local communities,&nbsp;or reach people in remote locations, the library&nbsp;would want to physically leave the library building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ideas Box is a revolutionary concept&nbsp;developed by Librarians Without Borders,&nbsp;with the aim to reach people in&nbsp;refugee camps&nbsp;and&nbsp;impoverished countries, but could be also used any time the idea of a <a title=\"10 most extraordinary mobile libraries\" href=\"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/extraordinary-mobile-libraries\/\">mobile library<\/a> is considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most thrilling thing about this&nbsp;modern library center is that it can be assembled in less than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Idea Box is a portable toolkit \u2013 standardized, easy to transport and set up. The kit consists of six boxes (including library and internet access), fits on two palettes, and creates a space of 1,000 square meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The library box&nbsp;includes 250 paper books, 50 e-readers with thousands of ebooks, and a variety of educational apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Ideas Box\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ideas-box.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Print on demand machines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?resize=620%2C420&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Print on demand machines\" class=\"wp-image-105635\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?w=620&amp;ssl=1 620w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?resize=220%2C149&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?resize=540%2C366&amp;ssl=1 540w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?resize=332%2C225&amp;ssl=1 332w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Print-on-demand-machines.jpg?resize=160%2C108&amp;ssl=1 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Bookless&nbsp;libraries, where you can&#8217;t find a single print book, launch&nbsp;regularly. They obviously won&#8217;t kill traditional libraries, just like ebooks don&#8217;t kill print books. The digital-only route has its disadvantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To me, every digital-only library should offer their patrons the ability to instantly make a print version of the book. Let&#8217;s put aside the question who is going to pay for this. The most important question is that sometimes the book has to be real to make use of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Espresso Book Machine (EBM) is a real product. Manufactured by Xerox, it&#8217;s&nbsp;sold by On Demand Books. It can make a paperback book while you wait, printing&nbsp;up to&nbsp;150 pages per minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The machine is connected to an online&nbsp;catalog of over seven million&nbsp;in-copyright and public domain&nbsp;books, but institutions using EBM&nbsp;can also print custom titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Espresso Book Machine\" href=\"http:\/\/ondemandbooks.com\/ebm_overview.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u21e2 Credits and more info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. Access to library via commonly used app<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Plymouth-District-Library-on-Google-Street-View.jpeg?resize=540%2C340&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Plymouth District Library on Google Street View\" class=\"wp-image-105705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Plymouth-District-Library-on-Google-Street-View.jpeg?w=540&amp;ssl=1 540w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Plymouth-District-Library-on-Google-Street-View.jpeg?resize=220%2C139&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Plymouth-District-Library-on-Google-Street-View.jpeg?resize=332%2C209&amp;ssl=1 332w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Plymouth-District-Library-on-Google-Street-View.jpeg?resize=160%2C101&amp;ssl=1 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This sounds like an super simple idea, but it&nbsp;doesn&#8217;t exist yet, and I&#8217;m not sure whether it will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All the concepts presented above were about special devices or solutions designed for&nbsp;special use in a library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowadays, if you want to borrow an ebook from a library you need to have a special app from a digital content provider, like OverDrive. But not all the libraries cooperate with OverDrive &#8211; and it&#8217;s where problems begin. The more special something is, the fewer&nbsp;people will use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing is that to borrow a print book from a library, you don&#8217;t need anything special besides the library card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine that many of the features described above would be accessible from a simple app &#8211; a browser on your mobile phone. You&#8217;d need it to browse the library, borrow a book, get notifications when it&#8217;s due, and finally, be able to read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe there would be an option to take a virtual walk through the library. We&#8217;re close, just look at the <a title=\"10 libraries to visit with Google Street View\" href=\"http:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/10-libraries-to-visit-with-google-street-view\/\">libraries using Google Street View tours<\/a>. Maybe there would be an option to make notes and highlights. Maybe there would be an option to recognize the printed text and turn it to editable notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, all these features are available, but they are delivered by special apps, and these special apps are not meant to be used in libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;idea (utopian?) is that everybody could use the library, and no extra knowledge and software would be needed for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google is leading&nbsp;the way to unify online experience. No extra sign ups.&nbsp;All you need is to be signed in to your Gmail account on Google Chrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep exploring. Here are the recent tips and lists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-system-sans-serif-font-family has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><ul class=\"is-grid columns-2 has-excerpts wp-block-rss\"><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/top-free-ebooks-christmas-2023\/'>Free ebooks for Christmas 2023: here are the top 20 downloads<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-rss__item-excerpt\">Just like a year ago, we are presenting the list of ebooks that were most downloaded from Project Gutenberg in [&hellip;]<\/div><\/li><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/best-personalized-library-gifts\/'>12 best personalized gifts for librarians and library supporters<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-rss__item-excerpt\">These library-themed gifts are extremely easy to personalize. All you have to do is add your own text!<\/div><\/li><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/book-style-iphone-covers\/'>Here are the 12 best iPhone case covers for book lovers<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-rss__item-excerpt\">In this updated overview, you\u2019ll see gorgeous iPhone covers that will remind you of the joy of reading books anywhere, [&hellip;]<\/div><\/li><li class='wp-block-rss__item'><div class='wp-block-rss__item-title'><a href='https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/best-metal-accessories-home-decor-book-lovers\/'>12 best metal accessories and home decor for book lovers<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-rss__item-excerpt\">Explore some of the best home decor items for book lovers that are handmade from metal: steel, brass, copper, bolts, [&hellip;]<\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p>If you don&#8217;t want to miss future updates, make sure to enable email notifications in the comment box below. We are also waiting for you on <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/read\/feeds\/15826925\">WordPress Reader<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ebookfriendly\">Mastodon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.tumblr.com\/\">Tumblr<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ebookfriendly\">Facebook<\/a>. You can also add us to your <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBggKMJPUNTCfzwU\/\">Google News<\/a> channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>If you buy an item via this post, we may get a small affiliate fee (<a href=\"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/about\/#affiliate-links\">details<\/a>).<\/em> <em>We only use the cookies that are necessary to run this site properly (<a href=\"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/about\/#cookies\">details<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Library future depends on technologies. We&#8217;ve collected a couple of great concepts that could be used in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":128026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[7],"tags":[11510,11563,11600],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Libraries-of-the-future-technologies-we-would-love-to-see.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdOQhx-rtw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105618"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157981,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105618\/revisions\/157981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebookfriendly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}