■ media New tune at Laman
A Family Tradition for over Fifty Years
Christmas Open House Sunday November 14, 2010 1:00 to 5:00
Music’s not a loan, but yours to own, free from library.
Come join the family at our NEW and IMPROVED Toy Boutique packed full of unique gifts for the holidays!
By Lindsey MiLLar
materials not only for research and study, ■ Last week, North Little Rock’s Laman but for cultural use.” Library unveiled a new service on its To that end, Laman’s brick and mortar website (lamanlibrary.org): Registered offerings include a cafe and coffeehouse, cardholders (anyone living in Pulaski art gallery and a robust computer lab. It County is eligible) may download three hosts regular concerts and events and DRM-free mp3s from the vast Sony recently opened a 3,000-square-foot teensMusic Group catalog per week for free. only lounge, which includes two videoDownload, as in keep on your hard drive/ game equipped flatscreen TVs. iPod/Zune forever, and, because the files But a service like Freegal means patrons lack DRM (Digital Rights Management) might ignore all of that and only interact code, transfer from device to device, friend with Laman online. And that’s fine with to friend. Baskin. The launch of the service, called Freegal “When you come into our website, it’s — as in “free” and “legal” — raises several like walking into our library.” questions: How does Sony’s music catalog As to the loan versus own question, fit into the mission of a library? Does a Walden argues that the library’s transishift from lending material to giving it tion from a group lender to a buyer on away represent a fundamental change in behalf of a group is less about the nature the nature of the library? And, at three of the library than it is about the nature of songs a week, how long will it take me to content. download all of Miles Davis’ 52 albums on Columbia Records? Library Ideas, a software and content distributor startup based in Virginia, launched Freegal in April. According to the company’s president and co-founder Brian Downing, some 200 libraries across the country have signed up for the service. Laman is the first in Arkansas. The price of the contract for Freegal ranges, Downing said, from “a couple of thousand [dollars] to six MUSIC TO GO: The website is part of the library. figures,” depending on the “[Freegal] represents not necessarily a number of cardholders in a library system change in the library mission but a fundaand how freely the library decides to allow mental shift in how people absorb informaits members to access the site. Laman pays tion now. The mission is still to provide free $6,500 annually for the service from its public access to information resources. It’s general material budget. just that the wrappings that those pieces of The question of music’s relevance in a information are coming in now are vastly library is easily answered by anyone who’s different than they were 10 or 15 years ago. taken full advantage of his library in the It’s very easy to require the return of book last several decades. Long ago, libraries because it’s a tangible object. It’s not that expanded beyond simply lending books simple with transferable data.” to stocking film and music on their racks, So far, according to Baskin and an ever-broadening paradigm shift that’s Walden, no best option has emerged as far reflected in the way Laman officials as digital books go. A format battle that describe what it is they do. Walden likens to Blu-ray vs. HD DVD or “Our primary mission is to provide Betamax vs. VHS is currently ongoing in information resources to the community the publishing industry. Laman is underthat are culturally relevant,” public relations standably reluctant to pick sides and make manager Jamie Walden said last week. what would be a significant capital invest“We can’t neglect that music is a signifiment and end up stuck with an obsolete cant cultural reflection to our society.” format. Jeff Baskin, who’s worked at the Next up, possibly, for Laman patrons, library for 25 years and served as execuaccording to Baskin: “We’re looking into tive director for the last year, offered an streaming video.” even more elastic description. As for Miles’ Columbia albums, check “We do arts here, including the whole back in a year and a half or so. I’ll let you range of what constitutes a community know. cultural center. Our mission is to provide
Receive 20% off your purchase*
Holiday refreshments will be served *(discount good 11/14/2010 only)
Free Gift Wrap • Free Lay-A-Way • Free Toy Assembly Full Service Embroidery • Local Delivery • Shipping Personal Shopping • Special Orders • Web Ordering
5918 R Street, Little Rock • (501) 663-8383 • heightstoycenter.com
Arkansas Kids Count Coalition’s 2010 Pre-Legislative Conference Dec. 2 in Little Rock
• Preview of legislation impacting Arkansas families. • Panels on education, health, economic issues and children. • Keynote by Dr. Sherece West, W. Rockefeller Found. • Networking with advocates, wonks and lawmakers.
Reserve your spot today: 501-371-9678, ext. 112 or visit www.aradvocates.org
www.arktimes.com • november 11, 2010 27