The development of the Internet, of search engines, and the digitization of an increasing number of books, have confronted the library world with an existential crisis: why should the public continue to visit libraries if they can find the information and books they are looking for online? The alarm was sounded in the United States by an article in 2001: The Deserted Library. ("The Deserted Library").

For the past decade, libraries around the world have been rethinking their buildings, their reception and their services in light of the digital revolution. They have undertaken to bring together traditional books and digital books (e-books), shelves and computers in the same place. This "hybrid library" gives access to digitized books (the "digital libraries") as well as to digital service packages.

The equipment of libraries with reading stations and wifi has transformed the expectations of the public; if they visit libraries, it is also to benefit from an Internet connection. This change in usage has destabilized library staff: what if the user no longer needed them?

According to Christophe Evans, a sociology researcher at the BPI's research department at the Georges Pompidou Center, working in the library no longer necessarily requires the use of the library's collections: on the contrary, a large proportion of users work on their own documents. The library is as much a place of work as a place of resources. A public desk, used by 32% of municipal library users, 61% for users aged 15 to 24.

In 2014, there were 7,100 libraries in France (excluding university libraries), to which should be added 9,000 book access points (PAL), for a total of 16,100 public reading places. One third of French municipalities offer access to a communal or inter-communal library, with 28% of municipalities offering a book access point.

Three studies published in 2016 by the French Ministry of Culture provide an update on the services offered and digital uses in libraries: asurvey of municipal libraries, an evaluation of the activity of digital book lending by public libraries, and an assessment of the national system of digital reference libraries (BNR).

97% of libraries with 40,000 or more inhabitants have a dedicated website

This is far from being the case for libraries with less than 5,000 inhabitants (56%). However, the online presence of libraries is not limited to the website, as some libraries may have pages on their community website with an online catalog.

69% of libraries with a population of 2,000 or more offer an online catalog. These online services can be considered as an extension of the access to the library services, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

72% of libraries with populations of more than 10,000 acquired digital resources in 2014

The survey highlights two main trends in terms of the type of content acquired and the acquisition methods. "The acquisition of single digital documents remains a minority model; the editorial offers correspond rather to "content packages". Digital documentation, on the other hand, "in 2014, is essentially a training and information offer (online press)". In large communities, just over a third of libraries acquire digital books and audiovisual documents.

20% of libraries with populations over 2,000 acquired digital resources in 2014.

This proportion varies from 9% to 72% depending on the size of the communities.

The acquisition of digital resources is still marginal in the library budget

For a total acquisition expenditure of €20,670 on average per library and €1,420 per Book Access Point (BAP), €755 and €55 respectively (i.e. 4%) are spent on digital resource acquisitions. "This is mainly because a large proportion of libraries - including those in large communities - do not spend any money ondigital resources," notes the report, which adds that "spending on digital resources varies greatly from one level of community to another. However, the funds devoted to digital documentation increased by 27% in 2014.

Deployment of "Digital Reference Libraries" in the territories

A first assessment of this program has just been made.

Libraries that have completed a BNR are located in communities of all sizes, ranging from mid-sized cities to large towns or metropolitan areas. "Commitment to the program is often the mark of a convergence between the libraries' investment in digital and the community's desire to display its commitment to technological innovation. The communities most sensitive to these issues are those that have already acquired a French Tech label."

BNR's projects place a great deal of emphasis on mediation with the public: on-site services are reinforced (workshops, meetings, creative spaces) as are online services (blogs, social networks, collaborative spaces).

The BNR projects have thus led to a diversification of the offer (digital culture, video games, digital practice workshops), as well as to partnerships with cultural institutions, associations, and artists: mediation by the library of content produced on the territory, reading clubs favoring digital modes with tablets or e-readers, events around digital culture, video game tournaments, and digital creative practice workshops.

The NRBs have also multiplied the number of initiatives aimed at people who are far from the digital world: popularization of digital technology for adults, seniors, unemployed people, partnerships with associations, administrations and local social services, help in finding a job, digital education on copyright, open data and Creative Commons, on democratic issues (access to data).

The lending of digital books in libraries: still a marginal practice

The deployment of this service can take several forms: loan of e-readers already loaded with content or loan of the "digital books" themselves, via a package.

The digital reading offer in libraries is now mainly based on the loan of e-readers. E-readers are less expensive than tablets and their format is specially adapted to reading. The library can buy pre-loaded e-readers. This solution, in a sense, takes away the library's role as a prescriber, as they no longer have to make a selection. Another option is for libraries to load the devices themselves, using the catalog of digital booksellers or downloading public domain or openly licensed works. (While some libraries have tablets, they are used exclusively on site and are primarily for edutainment, workshops, and reading newspapers and magazines.

The loan of digital books requires a subscription to a platform: the ebooks can then be borrowed for a period determined by the platform. The modalities vary according to the platforms: streaming (limited time), download with time-limit.

Since 2014, the Ministry of Culture has been promoting the "Prêt numériques en bibliothèques" (PNB) project. Under the PNB, one or more libraries join forces with partner booksellers to offer a selection of digital books, which they can purchase and integrate into their collections. They can then lend an ebook for free to any user, as long as he is registered at the library. This system relies on an intermediary (Dilicom) that organizes the articulation of the various actors of the book chain: publishers (providing the book catalog), booksellers (proposing the offers of the distributors to the communities), libraries (making them available) and finally the users (being able to download or read in streaming).

The French Ministry of Culture and Communication has just published a first report on the digital loan in libraries (PNB). It shows that 54 library networks have now subscribed to the service and that 37 booksellers offer this new service to libraries. At the beginning of 2016, the editorial offer to libraries consisted of 106,216 titles, compared to 207,999 titles offered to individuals. Almost half of the offer is composed of general literature; documentaries and practical books represent 37% of the offer. French libraries had acquired 12,716 digital copies over the year 2015 (of which nearly 73% were acquired between October and December). 41,259 loans had been made by French libraries, nearly 50% of which were made between October and December 2015.

However, the PNB system does not meet with unanimity within the profession. The main criticisms or reticence concern the high price of digital books, the lack of durability of the collections (libraries do not own the books: if a library does not renew a license, the title disappears from the catalog) as well as the constraints linked to the technical measures of protection against the copy (DRM).

American libraries, places of digital mediation

90% of U.S. libraries offered this service to their users in 2014. They benefited from the early development of a digital platform (Overdrive) as well as a significant rate of public equipment with e-readers. Over the course of 2016, U.S. libraries loaned almost 200 million digital books and audiobooks. 49 libraries recorded at least one million titles borrowed.

More generally, the digital renovation of U.S. libraries is well underway: 98% of libraries have Wi-Fi and 43.8% have fiber optic connections, according to the American Library Association. On average, each library has 18 workstations, although there are significant differences between urban and rural libraries.

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In addition to print-on-demand, video conferencing and 3D printing services, libraries are devoting increasing resources to training activities (basic digital skills, security and privacy, web design and creative content) as well as to assisting users with administrative formalities, online homework help, health prevention, entrepreneurship programs, and small business development

In 2012, according to Pew Internet Research, 50% of library users had gone to a library for help: this proportion decreased to 42% in 2015 and 35% in 2016. 27% of library users attended classes, programs, or lectures at libraries in the past year, a 10-point increase from the 17% who did so in 2015.

The reinvention of libraries as "third places

Quiet zones are located next to coworking spaces, meeting rooms, relaxation areas, cafés, movie viewing areas and even video games. This spatial division allows several uses to coexist in the same place. "Breaking with an elitist vision of culture, the library-third place refuses to be a place of prescription of knowledge. It addresses all forms of popular culture and its cultural offer is diverse and varied.

After several years of declining attendance (in the sense of number of visits) at municipal or inter-municipal libraries, there was a +19% growth between 2007 and 2012.