What do you think about a manga library?

[llstrangell]

Hey all!

I'm from Fairfax VA, which is near DC. i was wondering what you guys thought about a business that would rent out manga books to people for a week. This idea just suddenly came to me. Some of you may know of korean places that are like this. Their whole store is full of bookshelves of manga or manwha since it is korean. They carry the translated korean versions of many titles and basically let people check out the books for about a week or so for a certain fee.

I dont know how much they charge exactly because ive never rented books from there since I cant read korean, but i thought the idea for ENGLISH language books would be great. In the long run i might bring in korean or japanese versions of some popular titles. I know alot of public libraries carry some titles, but if your libraries are like mine, they are almost always checked out or lost somewhere among the readers in the library. I just wanted to see what are your thoughts are about starting a business like this.

I figured it would be a dollar per book and you could rent it for 7 days. Sounds simple enough? Would you all be willing to pay to rent books? Since buying them sure can be pricey.. this would be a great way to preview the book before buying it. You would have the whole series for you to rent without the hassle of checking your library to see if they have the book number your on. Do you think it would be a profitable bussiness? In my area there are a few anime stores and i think it is popular enough to start a store like this, especially since there are already Korean places like this in my area already in business. Its just everything they have is in Korean.

Well what do you guys think?

Thank you in advance for your comments!

[MistressPookyChan]

There are manga cafes all over in Japan. They are extremely popular! I think that if this concept was put in the US, it would also be quite popular.

People rent out a cubicle for some hours. In it they get a computer with internet as well as access to a collection of manga. They pay by the hour.

[Haibara]

It sounds like a pretty good idea to me, especially if there are already anime stores so you know its popular in your area. Unfortunatly where I live there are no such stores and there is no manga at the library either, I go and buy my manga from Borders two towns away.

[llstrangell]

oh thats terrible =[

[Sagat]

A great idea .. but if people cannot care for discs, how will they take care of the manga books? I can see them getting trashed so very easily.

Not to mention that anything librarian as a whole has dwindled in the face of online ... well, everything.

[dieing25]

I had that same thought. Iwish some had that in monroe.

[llstrangell]

A great idea .. but if people cannot care for discs, how will they take care of the manga books? I can see them getting trashed so very easily.

Not to mention that anything librarian as a whole has dwindled in the face of online ... well, everything.

That is true but i find it harder to find manga online than say episodes. I think people will be willing to check out the actual books to read them at their leisure and not in front of a computer screen. Those licensed mangas are almost impossible to find in my opinion. And yes, the books will probably be damaged, but the profits from the store will probably be enough to replace the really bad ones. I believe the korean places have some type of extra cover on them. I don't think the problem will be too bad.

[Haibara]

I think a Cafe or something like that should be included as well, you know to serve drinks like coffee, tea, or even smoothies (I love smoothies ) and other food stuffs.

[Sagat]

Yeah you know what, the cafe would be a great idea. Just look at what combining a coffee store with books did for Starbucks.

[~kloud~]

yeah well ware i live we kinda have one, you can go in read the comics or books and have some thing to eat and have a drink

[sasunarubishoujo]

Sounds like a great idea to me. Read manga to my hearts content while drinking some coffee at the same time is like a perfect little haven.
One way you can fix the money issue with lost, stolen or damaged books you can make people check in and out, so if you're returned a damaged book you can always charge the perpetrator for the damages.

[llstrangell]

The drinks sound good! thank you for the ideas. i wasnt even thinking about having a cafe. but i would still like to stick mainly with operating it like a library.

[miniPhil]

A fantastic idea! Go for it, the location you have sounds great so you have no problem there. Although i would charge mabey 2 instead of one if each book is costing you 10 each, just for the start though as you move on you can lower the prices to 1.

A great idea .. but if people cannot care for discs, how will they take care of the manga books? I can see them getting trashed so very easily.

One could alway put covers on the books, it wouldnt cost much and it would save a lot of money, or you could charge people for damaged books which would encourage then to use the cafe instead of renting out.

[llstrangell]

im worried the cafe would increase the chances of the books getting damaged.. id also rather charge for damage.. the covers will probably end up being pricey. should i charge 10 dollars to pay for the whole book or a lower fee?

[bttr]

Best idea ever!!!.

[miniPhil]

im worried the cafe would increase the chances of the books getting damaged.. id also rather charge for damage.. the covers will probably end up being pricey. should i charge 10 dollars to pay for the whole book or a lower fee?

The book is efectivly useless to you if its ruined etc, I would charge the full 10.

[ParaParaJMo]

Some of these ideas would work much better for a maid cafe.

[BlazingSoul]

That sounds like a great idea. Only problem is Manga usually breaks down if not taken cared of properly.

[Dark_Awakening]

I think that's a good idea.

[Infinita]

I think its an awesome idea. But, it all depends on the location....^^

[Prince Darien]

It could be a good idea. Manga is growing more popular in America every year.

The only thing I can think of are major book stores. Like Books A Million, etc... If you go to BAM you will almost always see at two or three people just sitting down and reading the manga that is there. In a sense it is already a library. lol.

You have a good idea. Just make sure people take care of the manga.

[llstrangell]

this way people could actually take it home instead of sitting down in the bookstore and reading it. which i dont do.. i duno cant bring myself to do it. haha anyways.. i hope that this idea can somehow get into action

[ParaParaJMo]

Well, don't exclusively concentrate on manga. Have manga artbooks as well and maybe if it does succeed, use it to your advantage by trying to book special guests from manga licencing companies like VIZ and TokyoPop. Have a fan art gallery. Make it a cafe or ramen restraunt at the same time. Have it entirely anime/manga or Akihabara-themed.

[Chaux]

we have one of those here, where i live. a small one though. but we have manga anyways in our city library. . ^^

[ParaParaJMo]

Yeah, my local library has a section that is really secluded. It has DBZ, Ranma, Inuyasha, Sailor Moon and even has some anime and manga art books and how to draw anime books.