Young Adult Use of Ebooks

Gray, R. & Howard, V. (2017, May 11). Young adults use of ebooks: An analysis of public library services and resources. Public Library Quarterly 36(3). Retreived from https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1080/01616846.2017.1316149

In their survey of teen / young adult librarians across North America, Robyn Gray and Vivian Howard found that most librarians believe there is little to no interest in ebooks among the teen patrons they service at their libraries. However, these authors believe that the programming and promotion of ebooks is being done all wrong. Instead of focusing on advertising the titles and procedures for using the ebooks, libraries should be informing teenagers of the benefits of reading an ebook. Many teenagers are self-conscious about the types of books they read, or their reading level. By reading ebooks they can have more privacy, since their peers are not able to see the books they are reading. There are many advantages, and many disadvantages, to reading ebooks discussed in the books. However, one advantage that I can think of is the ability for students to immediately search for the definition of a word they do not understand, assisting in their vocabulary development and reading comprehension. There are many reasons that teenagers should have the option of ebooks in their accessible library collections.

The User Is (Still) Not Broken

Fox, Leslie

Kenny, B. (2014) The User is still not broken, LJ

Summary

Kenny points out in this article that while both are growing, e-book borrowing, is growing beyond print book borrowing. Now that the excitement about e-books has settled down, people have adjusted to using them are not ready to give up print books. Patrons have preferences, some for e-books, some for audiobooks and others for print. It often depends on what they are going to be doing (traveling on a plane, long commute) or what’s going on in their life. Some still recoil at the thought of reading on a tablet rather than in a print book. Kenny states that e-book sales have flattened in the last year [2014] and in the then recent PEW research the number of adults who reported reading an e-book grew only slightly, from 23% to 28%. He goes on to say that the real focus needs to be on service to our patrons, not on the collection.

Evaluation

The main emphasis on the article is focusing on people rather than materials and getting beyond the idea that the OPAQ as an end all and be all search tool. He discusses getting outside of our own catalogs to find what's out there (Amazon, GoodReads). Patrons don't really need our OPAQ as much as we think they do, but what they need from us is human connection. The portion of the article that focuses on e-books is quite small but relevant.

Building a Collection from the Ground Up

Leininger, Isis
INFO 266
4/28/2016

Flater, E. (2016). Building a collection from the ground up: Notes from a first attempt at developing a collection for a new master’s degree. Strategic Library. Retrieved from http://www.libraryspot.net/SL/Collections.pdf

Flater, E. (2015, November). From the ground up: Notes from a first attempt at new collection building [PDF poster]. Retrieved from http://schd.ws/hosted_files/2015charlestonconference/1e/poster2dark.pdf

In the midst of all my subscriptions to listservs and newsletters, I found something that is related to this class and that could actually help us with our projects both in school and in our careers. The article was linked through the newsletter and I was able to find the author's online poster so you can look through both the article and the poster. I highly recommend that you read them if you plan on becoming an academic librarian when you graduate.

The article and poster are accounts of how an academic librarian developed a collection to support a new graduate program. The author talks about the funding she had access to, the deadlines she had to meet, and tools she used for collection development. She also talks about the challenges they met through the process, where they are, and where they want to be in the future.
She talks about how they divided their budget to buy new, older, and eBooks. She discusses that her library had to reevaluate expenditures and invest more money on eBook databases for Architecture. E-book collections subscriptions, as she came to realize, became a great way of improving the collection quickly and effectively.
The author also discusses using LOC classification for finding materials in other disciplines that related to the field. She also followed the guidance of other libraries, professional organizations, bibliographies, book reviews, and other resources. In addition, she points out the importance of improving the communication with campus faculty in order to better meet the needs of the campus.

This article and corresponding poster can certainly serve as good guides for us as we develop collections in academic libraries. It is a good overview of what kind of resources we should look into, and what kinds of challenges we might face in collection development. It also serves as a good example of how academic librarians can do collection development under a limited budget. In fact, I have saved the article and poster so that I can use it as a quick guide if I ever have to do this kind of collection development in my career.

The Future of Libraries Has Little to Do with Books

Brandes-Miesner, Marta

Spinks, R. (2015, January 4). The future of libraries has little to do with books. Good: A magazine for the global citizen. Retrieved from http://magazine.good.is/articles/public-libraries-reimagined

Summary:

 In this article, the author talks about how libraries are reinventing themselves by becoming vibrant and attractive community “hubs”. The article emphasizes the need to develop libraries into places where patrons can become not only digitally literate, but digitally fluent. The future of libraries according to this article is encompassed by its free services, by being a community gathering space, and by fulfilling patrons’ needs for connectivity. The first “Bookless Library” has been built in San Antonio, Texas. The author described it as a “digital hub”. This library is all digital, cloud-based, and has over 10,000 eBooks and eReaders for the public. The author states though that with its plethora of auditoriums and creative spaces to relax, work and meet in, library materials seem like an afterthought. Nonetheless, the sentiment of this article is that reimagining and recreating the library as a place for people to gather works well for the future of libraries.

Evaluation:

This article is interesting in its ability to present images of future libraries, and those that have already been moving in this direction. Imagining that this is one of many directions future libraries will take is obviously plausible. However, the idea that libraries will become more community spaces to meet rather than to go to for the purposes of gaining something is not as plausible. There are so many existing places to meet, study, gather, etc. People go to libraries to “acquire” something-knowledge, information, Internet access, assistance, leisure materials, peace & quiet, solitude to study, etc. not only for the space itself. So while the author presents a vision of the future that is sleek and stylish and seemingly new, the article neglects to include the very reason libraries exist in the first place. They exist to impart information or knowledge (regardless of its format) and to act as a point of entry for equitable access to that information and knowledge. Without these two factors, these “gathering spaces” are just that.