Nelson Wolff

WASHINGTON -- The new public library on San Antonio’s south side is missing something that once seemed unthinkable: books.

The south central Texas city’s completely digital library, known as the BiblioTech, lets Bexar County readers check out up to five books at a time on their devices from home or wherever they are. Military personnel can even download the latest bestseller from Afghanistan.

No device? No problem.

Locals can check out tablets or e-readers for free. Or they can use the library’s 48 iMAC desktop computers.

The next library in San Antonio, Texas, may not have any paper books for its patrons.

Nelson Wolff, a judge in Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located, and Sergio Rodriguez, commissioner for the county's first precinct, have proposed a plan to create a library called BiblioTech that offers electronic media exclusively.

Though there are bookless academic libraries, at the University of Texas at San Antonio for example, Wolff said in a phone interview that he believes that BiblioTech will be first public library without paper books.