BookSwim Offers Titles for Rent

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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 12/18/2007 8:21:00 AM

BookSwim, an online service that’s promising books for rent, à la the Netflix model, may raise some eyebrows in Library Land.

How does it work? Subscribers create a wish list, and titles are then mailed—without a due date or late fees. While some librarians may bemoan the new company as luring more users away from their beloved institutions, at least one library professional considers BookSwim to be a welcome addition to the bibliophile community. “If people aren’t checking out books, that’s okay,” says Kelly Czarnecki, technology education librarian with ImaginOn, The Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. “We need to give people more experiences. So they get the book elsewhere. They’re still welcome to come in for a book discussion or an exhibit. A library can be a different thing to different people.”

While BookSwim’s catalog is not unimpressive, it’s not a trip to the New York Public Library either. With 160,000 titles, James Patterson is in good supply; however, Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia does not come up on a search. Subscription prices range from $14.99 to $35.99 a month, depending on how many books a member wants to have out at once.

Finding a book in a library may frustrate users, especially youngsters. But BookSwim’s tendency to crash after every few searches proved unpleasant, as well.

Still, Czarnecki says, “I hear so often people embarrassed because they owe fines. I just think libraries have, and should have, other reasons for people to come and visit.”