The Race to Bookless

It used to be that when you wanted to take the measure of an academic library you asked, "How many volumes does it have?"  That question seems to have been stood on its head.  In the "race to bookless" the University of Texas at San Antonio has claimed victory.  The Applied Engineering and Technology Library opened on September 8, 2010, claiming to be "the nation's first completely bookless library on a college or university campus."  Although it is relatively small (80 person capacity), it does have "similar features to what are commonly called 'information commons,'" according to the report in LJ.