Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia

Re:Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in S... by littleweep on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:45AM (#23489459)

This seems insane. Why not digitally deliver any e-book in a plain text instead of this pr stunt?

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Re:Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in S... by themodelplumber on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:54AM (#23489551)

What's insane about an alignment of incentives? Drone resources were available. Physical books were going unused, while electronic copies are not exactly free. Those involved get a pat on the back via publicity. Readers get to read more. Learners get to experience a new phenomenon.

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Re:Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in S... by accountwhatever on Thursday June 11, 2020 @11:38AM (#23489962)

"Electronic copies are not exactly free."

What?

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Re:Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in S... by themodelplumber on Thursday June 11, 2020 @11:42AM (#23490006)

Yep. You know the library has to pay extra for electronic texts, right? For example, when a patron checks out an item from Hoopla, the library is charged from $1 to $3 (or so... prices may have changed) for that transaction. This affects the number of check-outs the library grants patrons for a given month. I've seen ours vary from 3-10. And many popular titles are not available at any time.

Another reason why it makes sense to leverage the physical books.

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