El Biblioburro: Serious dedication to the craft and the cause!

I read this article on CNN's website. I am humbled by his work and inspired by his example.  I became an educator & librarian because I felt it my mission work in life to promote the intellectual pursuits of others, to help grow a literate population that made choices using critical thinking, and to spread love of story wherever I went and to all I encountered. At the core of all this is my belief that humans must be free to make their own choices and that freedom comes from education (which can take many forms, not just going to college/university).

Luis Soriano demonstrates the essence of passion for a pursuit of education and freedom.

There is an email address at the bottom of the article. I am contemplating offering to help his work with either books or cash. Unfortunately, all the used books I could give him are in English; I wonder if he would want any? I know that in many Spanish speaking nations, learning English is as asset.

Letter to Amazon.com Customer Service

[update after letter - 2-17-2010]

Hello,
I want to voice an opinion about Amazon's policy of not allowing customers to re-download MP3s (and UnBox videos? I think?) that have been purchased. I hope that Amazon will seriously consider changing this policy. I find it very frustrating that I can re-download my purchases made in the itunes store (go Apple!) but not from Amazon (of whom I am a huge fan, and a decent client).

I have to give Amazon major kudos for the way Kindle material is made so easily accessible. I also have a NOOK (professional interest - I am a librarian) and can honestly and professionally say that you guys are doing the better job. The Kindle is simpler to use, easy to re-download, easier access to dictionary, backing-up-of-library indefinitely, launches ebooks faster that the Nook. The Nook may improve (or grow on me) but until both of those things happen: Kindle. Is. My. Hero.

However. This block against re-downloading other digital material has made it a matter of personal (and professional - I am responsible for all the purchasing of a small school library with a generous materials budget) financial policy that I will no longer make any digital purchases that do not allow a re-download option. While I am just one person expressing this frustration and action to Amazon, I am sure there are many more like me out there.

You could offer the analogy of purchasing a good old-fashioned paper & binding book: of course it has no "re-download" option. That is a completely different medium, though, and would require human effort and raw materials to reproduce. Digital material requires precious little of that, if any at all.

I have referenced [included in original correspondence] a purchase of mine as one example of music that I'd love to download again. Yes, you recommended that a back-up be made. That is not the point I am trying to make though. Had I purchased the same music from Apple's iTunes store, I would never need to make a back-up. As a consumer - that is a better investment.


Yours Sincerely,
Laura M. B. Hines, M.Ed; MLIS

2-14-2010 Update: Amazon usually gets back to me within a day or so after I email a query to them. I haven't heard any kind of response yet. I wonder if that means anything at all.

2-17-2010

Amazon got back to me with the following reply. I am glad to see they will make exception to their policy in some cases, and also glad they say they are paying attention to feedback such as mine. Whether that will ultimately translate into a better policy in general, who knows?

Hello from Amazon.com.

From your email, I understand your frustration.

Please note that Amazon MP3 files are only available for download at the time of purchase. We display information about the items you've purchased from the Amazon MP3 Music Downloads store in Your Media Library so you can keep track of what you've bought and discover similar items that may be available. However, the files are not stored there and cannot be downloaded again after purchase.

Because you can only download an MP3 file once upon purchase, we encourage you to make back-up copies of your MP3 Music files to ensure you will always have access.

However, we do exception to this policy and provide access to the MP3 downloads lost due to hard drive crash or other reasons.

Moreover, I've passed your feedback along to the Amazon MP3 Music team. It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects of shopping at Amazon.com. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we provide, and we appreciate the time you took to write to us.

If you have any issues with your MP3 downloads, please do let us know. We'll be happy to help you troubleshoot further. Please visit the following link to provide the information we
requested:

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

I enjoyed this delightful romp through the angst ridden terrain of southern gothic romance and high school. As yet another fantasy-meets-real-world adolescent adventure, it is a good addition to any YA library collection.