Boise library adds e-books to collection | Reading and Books | Idaho Statesman
The Boise Public Library added 850 books to its collection in November that you won’t find on the shelves.
These are the library’s first downloadable digital books, or e-books.
Library card holders can now access these e-books by computer from the library’s website, then transfer them to a variety of devices for easier reading, including the Nook, Literati Reader, Kobo eReader, Pandigital Novel and Sony Reader.
But you can’t read them on the Kindle, Amazon’s very popular e-reader. The bookseller prefers readers to buy its e-books.
Experts say e-readers have reached a tipping point, as prices for the devices have dropped (Nook selling for $149 at Barnes & Noble; Kobo as low as $119 at Borders).
They are expected to be big sellers this holiday season.
If you’re wondering if you can download the Boise library’s e-books on your new iPad, the short answer is not yet.
Boise library officials say applications that will allow folks with these and other Apple devices like the iPhone and the iPodTouch are expected in January.
“People are calling us and asking which e-reader to get,” said Meridian Public Library Director Patricia Younger, who hopes to bring e-books to her library patrons in the next fiscal year. “They want to know which is the best one. We really don’t know.”
With or without guidance, readers across the country are seeking out and using e-books.
Amazon announced in July that monthly sales of e-books had surpassed its sales of hardcover books.
Last month, The New York Times announced it will begin publishing e-book best-seller lists for fiction and nonfiction starting next year.
Major publishers estimate that e-books are about 10 percent of total trade sales, but they expect that to rise to about 25 percent in the next few years, according to the Times.
BOOK FORMATS COME AND GO AT LIBRARIES
Libraries have long offered books in alternative formats, including audio cassette (“books on tape”), compact disc and, more recently, e-audio (digital).
When CDs became popular, libraries phased out their audio cassette collections.
The Boise Public Library began offering e-audio books three years ago. Since then, the number of titles has grown from 350 to 2,200, and the number of patron downloads has gone from 1,000 in 2007 to 20,000 so far in 2010.
Books on CD still are the most popular format for the Boise library system, with more than 71,000 checkouts during fiscal 2010.
“Whatever format our customers prefer, as long as they’re using it, it makes us happy,” said Lindsay Wyatt, a reference librarian.
Nonbook items at the library also have evolved with the technology used by patrons — videos have gone from VHS and Beta to DVD.
“Through the rest of this decade, I believe we will see increased digital formats and the decline of CD, DVD, and even some print formats, particularly print periodicals,” said Chrisanne Brown, acquisitions and technical services manager at the library.
E-books have been added to the library’s collection to serve readers who prefer them over printed books, or as a convenient second option, said library Director Kevin Booe.
Now readers can check out books when the library is closed, and they don’t have to worry about late fines (the book is automatically returned at the end of the checkout period, 7 or 14 days). Still, one title can be checked out by just one person at a time. If certain titles are popular, the library will get more than one copy.
“We have to meet the public where the public is,” Booe said. “When the public gets these devices and starts embracing digital content, the library must be there to provide content.”
Almost 66 percent of libraries in the country are offering e-books, according to a 2009-10 study by the American Library Association.
Boise held off until now partly because there weren’t many e-readers on the market to support downloadable materials from libraries.
And library vendors, such as OverDrive, have offered better services for that market.
The Boise Public Library allocated $86,000 — almost 14 percent of its $633,000 general fund for library materials — for digital media this year.
That includes e-books, online reference books, multimedia books for children, e-audio books and databases.
The library’s first 850 e-books include fiction and nonfiction best-sellers, as well as test-prep study guides and children’s books.
E-books don’t require paper and ink, so they must be cheaper for the library to buy than traditional books, right? Well, not necessarily.
“The cost is sometimes less, but not always,” Wyatt said.
The publishers have licensing agreements with vendors, such as OverDrive and NetLibrary, which provide e-books to libraries across the country. Those contracts determine the price.
Amazon had been offering best-selling e-books at a low fixed price to lure buyers to its Kindle reader, but publishers put the kibosh on that, according to The Seattle Times.
The Boise library plans to heavily promote its new e-book collection and other digital resources in January and possibly offer some informational workshops on e-readers (staff librarians have been testing some out over the past year). They also plan to do a comprehensive survey of patrons later in the year.
E-BOOKS NOT JUST FOR THE IPOD GENERATION
Nate Peters is one member of the new generation of readers whom libraries are trying to serve. The 24-year-old Boisean said he and his wife, Jessica, both read books on their Android phones and on their shared iPad.
“We sync back and forth between the phone and the iPad,” said Nate Peters, who is reading “Death to the BCS.”
“My wife has all the ‘Twilight’ books on there,” he said.
Peters likes the convenience of being able to pull up a book on his phone any time, like when he’s got 10 minutes at the end of a lunch break.
He and his wife buy books from Amazon through Kindle applications on their phones and iPad. But they also still buy printed copies of their favorite books.
“There’s something about it,” Peters said of his print versions of Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho’s books. “I like having them in paperback on the shelf.”
What does he think about getting e-books from his local library?
“That would be cool,” he said.
But don’t assume that e-books and e-readers are unique to the iPod generation.
A survey of Kindle users last year revealed that 50 percent of users were older than 50, and 27 percent older than 60.
“People who should have fixed habits including reading physical books using reading glasses are buying an electronic book reader instead,” Time magazine reported last year.
Booe, the 50-year-old Boise library director, said he and his wife both have Kindles.
“I never thought I would like it,” said Booe, who added that he was pleasantly surprised at its usefulness. “I use it mostly for professional reading. I don’t have to haul around a bunch of magazines, books and business literature.”
He said he likes that he can upload meeting notes in PDF files to his Kindle.
And all young people aren’t fans of e-books.
Will Rigby, a 17-year-old Boise High School junior who is an avid reader, said he didn’t cotton to the Kindle that his family got two years ago.
“I thought I would really enjoy it. Once I started using it, I started realizing all the disadvantages,” said Rigby, who is reading six books outside of his required school reading.
He prefers the smell of paper and likes being able to see how many pages he’s read.
“A nice (hardcover) copy of say, ‘The Arabian Nights,’ or a Kindle. I would want the hardcover copy,” he said. “I’m very particular about my books.”
Take note, Santa.
NEW FORMAT POSES SOME CHALLENGES
Those who love traditional books shouldn’t panic.
As popular as the Boise library system’s e-audio collection is — checkouts rose 58 percent this year over last — it still accounts for less than 1 percent of the library’s total circulation of 2.3 million.
“I don’t see the demise of (printed) books anytime soon,” Booe said.
He said he believes periodicals (magazines and newspapers) will migrate to digital-only formats long before books, and some already have.
Booe says society’s move toward digital information won’t make libraries irrelevant, as some have predicted. The Boise library system alone offers avid readers 400,000 titles for “free” to residents.
Of course, it’s not really free — there is a cost for the materials and people pay taxes to support libraries — but it’s a great deal, Booe said.
The library’s annual budget is about $8.9 million. It is supported through the city’s general fund (property taxes). Nonresidents pay $67 per year for a library card.
“That’s less than three hard-cover books,” Booe said.
One of the great things about paper books is that users don’t encounter the “technical difficulties” they sometimes do when downloading and transferring digital materials.
And some have found that there are many fewer e-audio book titles available for Mac users than PC users.
“It’s all about the digital rights,” Wyatt said. “It’s negotiated for each title.”
But the technology is getting better and easier to use.
“Downloading and getting customer computers synced up has been tricky, mostly because of some road blocks with digital rights management,” Wyatt said.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
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