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School Libraries adding more e-books

The number of school libraries building electronic stacks is increasing in the past few years.

A 2011 survey by the School Library Journal found that 31 percent had e-books in their collections. But 63 percent of those surveyed said they couldn’t afford to buy digital books.

On a recent afternoon, 9-year-old Josh Hezel and his classmates were in the library at Long Elementary.

A generation ago, Hezel and the others might have stopped by a shelf of recommended books, or searched on his own in the card catalog. Instead, he and his classmates sat down with some of the school’s new e-readers. The book titles flew by on a digital screen as the boy scrolled through, stopping at one that caught his eye.

“I think librarians are in favor of anything that gets students reading,” said Margaret Sullivan, regional director for the Missouri Association of School Libraries and president of St. Louis Suburban School Librarians Association. “What we just want to make sure is that every student has access to technology, because some students might not have that at home.”

Penguin stops lending of e-books to Libraries, then reverses stance

About a week ago Penguin Group USA announced that they were pulling new e-books from libraries; in addition, it was not lending any e-books to libraries through the Kindle.

In a statement provided to Library Journal‘s Digital Shift blog, Penguin stated that due to security concerns, it finds it “necessary to delay the availability of our new titles in the digital format while we resolve these concerns with our business partners.”

No doubt it is unusual among the “big six” publishers in that it allows e-books to be borrowed through libraries at all. Here is a summary of the big six. Macmillan and Simon & Schuster do not distribute any e-books to libraries. Hachette Book Group does not allow new titles to be lent as e-books, and HarperCollins only allows new e-books to be borrowed 26 times before the library has to buy a new copy.

Unfortunately, this leaves Random House as the only “big six” publisher currently allowing access to its e-books through libraries.

Then, a few days later Penguin Group USA reversed their stance and decided not to pull the e-books from the libraries. We will keep an eye on this dynamic news story!

iPads Available now at Wisconsin Library

The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire, WI is set to introduce a new program in which participants can try out iPads on the premises and can also rent out models for up to seven days for personal use.

This program is being put into motion thanks to a $50,000 grant provided by the Presto Foundation.

Here’s how it works…LEARN MORE

Portland Library offers Kindle books

A library in Mulnomah County (Portland, OR) said cardholders can now check out e-books on their Amazon Kindle or mobile devices, such as the iPhone, tablets such as the iPad, and devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system with the free Kindle app.

More than 10,000 titles are available and patrons will need both a library card and, of course, an Amazon account.

The length of the loan, the library says, depends on the format and the patron’s preference.

The Littlest Library in the World – Coming to your Town?

SMALLESTLIBRARY — Terry Sennett & Claudia Cooley in front of The Book Booth

Thanks to Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Lexington, KY for finding this story.

On September 3rd, “America’s littlest library” – a library based inside a British telephone booth – officially opened in Clinton Corners, NY. It’s 3’x3’x8’ and fits two people at a time, as long they don’t mind getting a little cozy.

The Huffington Post interviewed Claudia Cooley, who came up with the idea, via email about the workings of the littlest library, why it has no security, and their unconventional plans for Halloween.

Read While You Wait e-books

The online textbook vendor Chegg has launched a new “read while you wait” feature that gives its customers access to an ebook version of some books while the paper versions ship.

“Read while you wait” ebook access costs $1.99 and will be valid for seven days.

The short ebook pass is not available as a standalone product, which means it’s only available as an add-on to the price of a physical book. LEARN MORE

Duke to offer Thousands of Free e-books

College_DukeUniv — Duke staying with the times

Duke University is about to expand access to free electronic books to include thousands of titles. This fall Duke will be among the nation’s first institutions to offer free online access to books that are still protected by copyright and not in the public domain. Published between 1923 and 1963, the books will be offered to the public because the owners of the copyrights can’t be contacted – either the publishers went out of business or the authors are deceased.

Duke announced the project this week along with other universities – Cornell, Emory and Johns Hopkins. They were able to do what Google hasn’t been able to because their library systems own print editions of the books.

Libraries and e-Books

The hottest items at the public library can’t be seen on bookshelves. Kindles, iPads and Nooks are being joined by more e-readers and tablets. And the changing shape of books has the library community pondering the role of the traditional brick-and-mortar buildings where paper and ink have long reigned.

“Everybody got these e-book readers and came to the public libraries and said, ‘I want the e-books,'” said Christine Lind Hage, a Michigan librarian who serves on an e-book task force for the American Library Association. “A good library is … [READ THE FULL STORY]