E-book Demos at the Library

I have recently joined my library's e-book team. I spend a few hours each week showing patrons how they can check out free e-books and downloadable audiobooks from Overdrive on the library's website. We set up a table with various e-readers and tablet computers, to show people how to download the books onto their different devices.

The library staff has just recently taken over this project (it was previously done through contractors) and I think it is really taking off. Admittedly, most of the patrons that come up to our table think that we are advertising the devices themselves.

"Are you giving these away?" and "How much are you selling them for?" are frequent questions. I even had one patron complain that he did not think we should be advertising e-readers in the library because "people should be here to read books." When I explained to him the function of the e-book table and that it does promote reading books, he seemed mollified.

I've found that I really sort of love the e-book table. I get to learn how to promote the library's e-book collections and I get to play around with the different devices myself. I especially enjoy encountering patrons who either have no idea that the library offers e-books and are impressed, or patrons who are aware and disapprove.

A lot of people still believe that the Internet will be the death of libraries. That readership of books will go down because "that information can be found online easier." Many people believe that library staff should be the guardians at the gate, holding back the harmful onslaught of technology and the damage they think it will do to literacy. This is turning out, as many librarians have been saying for years, not to be true. Libraries are adapting as they always have. We are incorporating technology to provide a wider range of access to materials.

I enjoy explaining that current studies, (and certainly our own circ statistics) are baring out the fact that e-books actually increase paper text circulation. When a patron sees a title that may have 15 or 16 holds on the print text to 1 or none on the ebook, they'll often checkout the ebook. Conversely, say they search the catalog for an ebook from an obscure author. They find that the library does not own the ebook but does have it in print. In these cases, they will often travel to the library to pick it up. Then they'll often stay to browse the shelves when they find out that the library also offers CDs, DVDs, and internet access.

Books and promoting literacy are still mainstays of the library. But now, we can reach a wider audience with ebooks and downloadable audiobooks.