I am tired of sending people to Amazon from my blog to find media. I want a web site that has a static page for everything that Amazon has, with links to many different sources for acquisition: your local libraries, sites that let you trade with people, your local independent bookstores, and then, yes, if you really have to, an online bookseller.

What I’m talking about is a site that promotes the library and the local economy at the same time. Have you thought lately about how great the library is? The library is a network that can get you pretty much anything. It saves trees and oil by sharing a local resource. And now that we’ve lost most of our town squares, it is one of the few local non-commercial community spots left. What’s more, you’ve already paid for it in your tax bill, so it is a wise financial move. Of course, libraries don’t have many copies of the hottest new books and movies, so that’s where the independent bookstore comes in.

I know about WorldCat, and I’m excited to see the upcoming WorldCat.org. But even with a new face, they don’t have circulation data. I wish libraries had open APIs like Amazon does, where you could query availability, request books, and so on. I’ve heard about “Library 2.0,” but where is it? I’ve read about LibraryLookup. I’ve seen Google Print. None of give the complete answer when the readers’ question is “what is the fastest, cheapest way for me to borrow/acquire/read/view X?”

And isn’t that always the question?

Well, no. Other questions might be “what did people think of this book?”, “what other library books did people check out when they checked this one out?”, and “how can I save this book for later checkout/purchase?”

I don’t know of a site that answers even one of these questions and includes my local library.