Building ebook collections

We hear a lot about how important it is for children's librarians to build their collection of digital materials, but few sources get down to the nitty-gritty of buying and making available these resources. Now an excellent post in the ALSC blog goes into the details of choosing and obtaining e-materials for children. As the post points out, there are some excellent classic titles available on Project Gutenberg, the freely available treasure house of books, but recent titles must be bought and paid for. Questions about choosing a vendor and a format then come up, as well as the issue of integrating these titles into the library catalog. Be sure to read this post and follow the discussion about it. Ebooks are not going away and librarians must cope with the complexities of providing them.