Bring on the e-readers

There’s been a lot of hype lately about how ebooks are being used in schools and libraries for children and adults. Ebooks are popular, and some children as well as adults say they prefer reading ebooks to reading print. Librarians, always eager for anything that increases the love of reading, would like to increase their collections. But what can we do for children who don’t have e-readers? Even though these devices have become more and more popular, they are by no means universal. Some libraries manage with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) but that penalizes parents who cannot or prefer not to buy e-readers, and the policy opens the possibility of teasing and competition among the children.

The preferred solution for most libraries is to buy devices and make them available to children either in the library or to borrow. A report in School Library Journal gives a round-up of the possibilities and problems in buying Kindles, iPads, and other reading devices in children’s libraries. Even setting aside the expense, which can sometimes be covered by donations or grant money, there are complications. The companies that produce e-readers have aimed their devices at consumers not libraries. Books are designed to be used on only one device at a time. Vendors are not always prepared to handle agreements for purchasing multiple copies of ebooks. For classroom use, the devices have to be synched so each child is looking at the same book and this is a problem.

There are far more questions than answers to the many problems in providing ebook collections and e-readers in children’s libraries, but patrons want them and librarians are going to have to work with publishers and vendors to figure out ways of providing access. Libraries and schools are large purchasers of books and should have some leverage in getting publishers to move more quickly to move to digital books. The purchase of the devices, administration of collections, availability of titles wanted, integration of catalogs, and the high costs involved are barriers. This is the kind of problem that professional associations are designed to work out. It’s time for librarians, individually and in groups, to pressure publishers and others in the business to confront these issues and provide answers. The children can’t do it by themselves, so this is a time to step up our advocacy and speak out for the young people in our schools and libraries.

How many apps in your collection?

Publishers Weekly's recent Webinar "Children's Books in an iPod Age" presented a panel of experts who talked about how devices like the iPad and other ebook readers might impact picture book publishing. Susan Katz of HarperCollins explained how the new digital devices had given her company the opportunity to sell directly to teens and the parents of younger children. Rick Richter of Ruckus Media said his company is focusing on apps as a way to function in the digital world. He expects that apps will offer links to "drive people to bookstores." Perhaps librarians may speculate how apps could drive children and their parents to the library instead. With even very young children becoming familiar with iPhones and iPads and the wonders to be found on them, libraries could consider featuring material in their collection which is also available as an app. The recent appearance of Alice in Wonderland as an app on iPad may very well encourage some patrons to look for the original print version. Librarians ought to follow trends in the release of app and the growth of app-related websites. Just as publishers can offer both digital and print media, libraries also can become sources of linkage between old and new media. Books are not likely to disappear anytime soon, but libraries will have to find new ways to make patrons aware of them.

Ebooks to go in libraries?

School Library Journal's latest issue is filled with news about ebooks and the attention they are getting from librarians and teachers. They report on a conference on virtual books at which speakers talked about the opportunities and problems for librarians in providing ebook materials. One of the biggest obvious issues is the variety of formats for ebooks. Kindles are currently the most popular platform but the Nooks, iPad and other formats have their supporters. Librarians worry that if they go with the wrong format they will end with obsolete equipment and materials just as many libraries did with filmstrips and tape recorders in the past. Perhaps an even greater issue is the rights of libraries to provide ebooks to patrons who own their own device. The marketers have built their business plans on each user buying a device, which cuts libraries out of the picture. It's time for professional organizations like ALA to try to start a dialog with ebook producers to work out some reasonable way for libraries to circulate materials. On pattern that might work in schools is the model, also written up in SLJ this month, at Arizona State University. The library there is buying a supply of Kindles for students and will have a collection of YA materials available for each machine. This model could work in other school situations where authorized users are limited and easily identifiable, but it doesn't seem feasible for public libraries. We need to think about the future of ebooks in libraries for the next 20 years, because they are not going away.

E-books with extras

The flow of e-books for children into the market continues unabated. The iPad has unleased a flood of creativity and publishers are offering not only facsimiles of printed books and illustrations, but also variations. Warren Buckleitner, writing in the N.Y. Times, discusses some of the new products that parents and librarians can c hoose from. These include a new presentation of Alice in Wonderland (condensed) in which with a shake of the e-reader a child can change the picture presentation. It's not only the iPad, the iPhone and the Kindle that offer interesting new ways for children to enjoy books. Other platforms will no doubt come up with other variations. Should libraries purchase these versions? That's hard to say. How many will remain accessible and desirable for more than a year or two? With very view guidelines in this area, librarians may want to turn to Friends of the Library or other philanthropic groups to provide some of these possibilities to children. As time winnows out the ones that have less appeal, libraries may consider using some of their precious budget funds to provide the winners. The important task at this point is to remain aware of possibilities.