William Larsen

Allen County Library will see reduced out of town visitors

I could have sworn a few years ago that one of the reasons given to renovate and expand the public library was that it would attract visitors. These visitors would come to the library to perform genealogy searches, spend money at hotels and restaurants helping the local economy. I know I also heard many on city council state the library was a major attraction and with this, would compliment Harrison Square and help make it a success.

"Under the agreement, Microsoft will be able to post digital copies of tens of thousands of genealogy volumes on its Microsoft Live Search Books site, books.live.com, library Director Jeff Krull said Thursday.

The advantages for Microsoft are that assembling such a concentration of genealogical material on its site will be a draw for visitors and the advertising revenue that increased visitor traffic could lure.

For the ACPL, the advantages are just as significant, although they don't have the prospect of immediate financial reward that Microsoft hopes to earn from the deal."

The paper today reported that the Allen County Library has signed an agreement with Microsoft to scan all its genealogy contents and place them on the World Wide Web. What financial reward woudl the Library see besides reduce visitors from out of town?

posted by William Larsen @ 9:15 PM