The End of Academic Library Circulation?

"The End of Academic Library Circulation" is a provocative article about the decline of the book as a research tool. If Will Kurt's predictions in ACRL Tech Connect are accurate, loans of physical books from academic libraries will approach zero by 2020, a mere eight years away.

I sheperd a small library outlet with perhaps 400 books and 15 computers. Students and faculty have learned that they can conveniently get "enough" information to supplement their undergraduate textbooks by querying the university databases and various websites. The small reference collection is rarely tapped by students for weekly assignments. But students and faculty do borrow self-help and devotional books, items they want to read over several weeks.

-DD