ebook invasion in Cherry Hill NJ

This ebook/library press release [which was emailed to me in its entirely in my comment box] makes the “virtual library” that patrons get to use until the new library is built sound about as fun as watching the Macy’s Parade on a tiny black and white television. Residents of Cherry Hill do get to visit the Cherry Hill Digital Community Center [sponsored by Sirsi, makers of non-Netscape compliant OPACs] which the library web site says is “an online place” available for residents. I’ve got nothing against eBooks conceptually, but can we agree that, just like Google Answers, they’re supplemental to other library services, not replacements for them? Just like the profession’s reliance on major book distributors has narrowed our easily-purchased titles to a smaller subsection of available books, so does the eBook program’s interaction with big name publishers subtly, or not so subtly, shift the library’s collection focus from comprehensive to popular? Library/business/vendor partnerships can be a really good thing, but they have to be entered into thoughtfully and consciously. Do you think overdrive’s privacy policy is the same as your library’s?