Book Review 1: Palfreys BiblioTech

Sarah Marshall

Dr. Emily Knox

LIS 590IP: Information Policy
1 March 2016

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Biblio TECH: Why libraries matter more than ever in the age of Google John Palfrey
Basic Books: Philadelphia, PA. 2015.
With the prevalence of the high speed internet and Google, many people wonder whether
libraries and librarians serve any purpose today. This ideology rests on the ideas that libraries are
solely information centers, that everyone today has access to high speed internet, and that Google
has all the answers. None of these assertions are true. But the question of why libraries are
important persists, and it seems many people in the library field struggle to articulate the answer.
John Palfreys book, BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of
Google, sets out to explain the future of libraries by examining the ways that they can meet the
demands of the digital age. Palfrey describes himself in the book as what people in the library
business call a ferala nonlibrarian who ends up working in a library (18). While his
background does not include a Masters degree in library and information science, he does boast
other career accomplishments as a law professor and the director of the Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard University (20). He is also a part of the Digital Public Library of
America (DPLA) which brings together the cultural and scientific heritage of the United States
in digital form (20). With a focus on the complex challenges of digital information, Palfrey
covers a wide range of topics from technology to copyright while simultaneously attempting to
rally support for libraries. Most of Palfreys advice is consistent with the views of other authors,
such as the need to incorporate technology in libraries, and does not stand out as being unique
but rather as a compilation of already expressed ideas; however despite certain biases and some
audience confusion, BiblioTech serves as a touchpoint for where libraries are and where they are
headed.

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The main reason that Palfrey puts forth for why libraries are important today is the
equalizing power of libraries. He believes that libraries support the idea of democracy as well as
empower people to learn new technologies and skills. Libraries provide a neutral place for
people to learn about important issues. This ability to find information in a neutral environment
allows for our democratic society to survive. Palfrey fears that our public space are under
pressure from private interests, in real life and online (59). He seems to be worried about
corporations taking over the flow of information and even says The risk of a small number of
technically savvy, for-profit companies determining the bulk of what we read and how we read it
is enormous (90).
This fear speaks not only to individuals needs to access information but also to the fear
that corporations are moving at a faster pace than libraries, working to address many of these
[information management] problems, only with a profit motive rather than the public interest as
their driver (138). If corporations are looking at information management from a profit
perspective, they will begin to manage only the information that makes money and the
preservation and accessibility of what they deem to be lesser information will disappear. The
world of available information will become smaller, focusing only on the most popular
information rather than providing equal access to every angle of an issue. In this world of
shrinking access, the freedom of the public also shrinks and the control of corporations over
society grows.
As Habermas states, Only when the exercise of political control is effectively
subordinated to democratic demand that information be accessible to the public, does the
political public sphere win an institutionalized influence over the government through the
instrument of law-making bodies (49). Palfrey and Habermas agree that the independence of

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libraries matters because we are free to pursue our own interests and ideas, without fear of
reprisal or economic consequence, allowing citizens to exercise control over what ideas and
philosophies to support (Palfrey 49).
The second half of the equalizing power comes from the idea that libraries are places
where people can come to learn and access new technologies. He uses the example of free
internet to demonstrate this point early on in the book. He says that budget cuts are forcing
libraries to cut back hours and this cut back in hours is limiting the availability of students to use
the free wireless to complete their homework. Instead they have to go to McDonalds or
Starbucks which are open much later but have no educational support (44). Therefore instead of
receiving the free internet at their library, with helpful library staff, and a quiet environment, they
have to try to finish their homework with minimal help in a noisy, distracting shop. Palfreys
hope is that libraries will be able to find ways to support this section of the population and others
with more programs and focus devoted to digital literacy.
Palfrey believes that the future will continue to become more and more digital and for
this reason, he places a very high value on a librarys ability to not only adapt to new technology
but also to use it to educate their patron base. He believes that the digital future will require
libraries to incorporate these technologies into their practices and to form collaborative,
cooperative initiatives that will support new methods for digital literacy and digital preservation.
His emphasis on the digital is understandable based on his involvement with DPLA and the ever
expanding field of technology, but given the title of the book, I was hoping for some nontechnology related reasons to support libraries and for some mention of community within
libraries. That being said, Palfrey delivers a book with a variety of subject areas and how those
areas intersect with technology.

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The most rewarding part of the book, for me and I think for patrons of the library, is the
chapter on copyright and privacy. From my experience, people outside of the library field seem
to think that the move toward digital information and ebooks is a cheaper move. It seems like a
logical assumption because the consumer is not paying for paper or printing, but as Palfrey
explains, the copyright on digital materials is different from that of paper and analog materials.
He explains how the first sale doctrine allowed libraries to loan out books and how instead of
using this doctrine, ebooks use a type of licensing agreement. The first sale doctrine is the same
doctrine that allows people to resell their used books, but ebooks function more like digital
records. Digital records cannot be resold and ebooks cannot be repeatedly and constantly loaned
out to patrons. The lack of a policy that supports the sharing of digital materials is a blow to the
librarys original loaning model. Where a library used to be able to buy a book once and loan the
book until it disintegrated, a library now has to repurchase or re-subscribe to maintain their
digital collections. With this explanation, Palfrey dispels some of the illusions about ebooks in
the library and explains how digital materials can complicate the librarys ability to provide
information.
This section is also the only section where Palfrey gives concrete solutions to a problem.
He suggests other methods of controlling copyright for ebooks and digital materials. He
mentions the method, Buy-to-Unglue, which would be a practice where once an ebook
reaches a certain number of sold downloads, it becomes free to download for all subsequent
readers (128). This method is not the only one mentioned, but it was a nice change from the rest
of the book to have some potential future solutions.
It was also an important chapter because policy affects the information profession so
profoundly. As Braman states, Information policy involves decision making and practice that

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shape the conditions under which we can learn about the factors shaping the world in which we
live, speak with each other about shared matters of public concern, and exercise agency in our
lives as individuals and communities (Braman 5). Palfrey is able to demonstrate this idea, using
copyright and licensing as an example.
While Palfreys main points about how a library can evolve into the future are relevant,
they are also somewhat unrealistic. He waves away concerns about funding. He admits that
funding is down by saying many mayors are slashing library budgets to save other essential
services (17). He appears to be hopelessly optimistic about the citizenry picking up the bill for
the reinvention of libraries. He attempts to rally citizens by telling them that support for
libraries, both financial and otherwise, is crucial during this period of transition (20). But he
ultimately decides that it is going to take a new generation of library philanthropists to step up
for the digital age (21). Palfreys main solution to the funding problem is to rely on charitable
donations.
This is not a solution.
Palfreys privileged background may account for his lack of concern toward library
funding, but for him to suggest that libraries will be able to thrive in the digital age because of
donations is to not only assume wealthy individuals will support libraries but to also blatantly
disregard low income and rural communities who may not have individuals with the funds to
support the library. Without a solution to the budget problem, all of Palfreys suggestions about
how the library can evolve are moot point.
The other major problem I had was with the subtitle. Why Libraries Matter More than
Ever in the Age of Google suggests that libraries currently matter more than ever, but as I read
the book, I became increasingly frustrated at Palfreys suggestions that libraries need an overhaul

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in order to matter more than ever in the future. The title is a misrepresentation of the books
content. It promises to regal the reader with the positive, progressive ways that libraries are
already contributing to their communities but instead delivers a well-intentioned but poorly
constructed guide for how libraries should prepare for the digital age.
Because this book reads a manual for how libraries should operate, the audience of the
book becomes questionable. When I picked up the book, I assumed it was orientated to people
outside of the library science field, and if the book would have focused on the ways that libraries
were currently benefiting patrons, the audience would have been those people. Palfrey, however,
straddles the line between the two audiences of people: those outside the field and those within
the field. The books use of the words should, must, and ought create the sense that the
audience is people within the field of library science, the people who could put into motion
Palfreys suggestions, but Palfrey also frequently uses the word we to mean the community
using and supporting the library.
For example, Palfrey includes a call to action in the book: To promote further innovation
in our libraries however, wethe members of the public who rely on themneed to ensure that
libraries have the money, resources, and time they need to make this transition (89). In this
quotation, it is clear that he is attempting to rally members of the community to support the
library. The use of the word we in this way suggests that the true audience is community
members interested in the library, but on the same page, Palfrey says, Librarians should work
with all kinds of unexpected partners in this process of reinvention (89). This sentence would
suggest that he is hoping to change the ways that libraries operate by telling librarians what they
should do, and in order to do that, he must be assuming that librarians are part of his audience.

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By attempting to reach both audiences simultaneously, Palfreys book loses focus. In
trying to be both a rally cry to the public about why libraries are important and a guide for
libraries struggling to meet the demands of the future, Palfreys book ultimately becomes a
confusing, contradictory tale about how libraries are neither succeeding nor failing in the current
hybrid era of information.
In conclusion, BiblioTech would be a good book for library supporters to read and maybe
people who are considering going into the library field. Palfrey covers many topics and how the
digital world is going to continue to affect libraries. If people who were apart of the library field
wanted to read this book, I would suggest that they not read it straight through but instead focus
on the chapter that covers the topic of their specific interest. Overall, Palfreys discussion of
topics has a solid basis in other information science literature and is a good way for people to
grasp what the future of librarianship might hold.

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Works Cited
Braman, Sandra. Defining Information Policy. Journal of Information Policy: 1 (2011): 1-5.
Buschman, John. Libraries and the Decline of Public Purposes. Public Library Quarterly: 24.1
(2005): 1-12.
Habermas, Jurgen. The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article. New German Critique 3
(1974): 49-55.
Palfrey, John. BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google. New
York: Basic Books, 2015. Print.