eBooks for SchoolsA Collection Development Odyssey

Sue Smith, Library Director

The Harker School

August 7, 2012

Today’s Journey

Why E-Books?

Key considerations for schools Content (often determines the other 2)FormatDRM

Where to begin?

For further reading . . A tour of our LibGuide

Why eBooks?Embedded content

More engaging

Instant & remote use

Hyperlinks to source material

Differentiated learning (text-to-speech, font size, etc.)

Virtual bookshelf; project features

Space-savers (more space for collaboration, maker spaces)

Time-savers (processing, shelving, inventory, weeding)

No wear-out/replacement issues

Environmentally friendly (?)

Simultaneous multi-use

Patron-driven acquisition

Our Story . . .

HarkerK-12 Independent school on 3 campuses1:1 Laptops, 6-12; Chromebooks 4-5, iPads, K-3

Toe-in-the-water approach Began in 2006 with 10 Gale eBooksOwn 1688 titles K-12, Subscribe to approximately 30K titles through Gale’s

QuestiaSchool.com

Some Stats . . . At least 20% of all book sales come from e-books, and

the numbers are rising fast.

Total e-book sales in January 2012 came in close to twice those of a year previously, and were more than ten times the figure for January 2009.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that 21% of all Americans have read an e-book in the past year, with the proportion predictably higher among the young.

Millions of free books in the public domain have been digitized by Google Books.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble sell hundreds of thousands of copyrighted titles for a price usually lower than print.

From “The Bookless Library” by David Bell; The New Republic, Aug 2, 2012 issue

But What Does this Look Like for School Libraries?

EX: 17 VOYA-reviewed books from Jan-June 2012 with 5 Q scores; 14 fiction & 3 non-fiction:

Only one is available as eBook for purchase thru Ingram or Follett (not the same title!)

All but one available for Kindle at 20-25% of hard cover Amazon price.

All but 4 available from iBooks at approx. 60% of the MSRP

Current models favor individual use

“If you talk to ONE school librarian about eBook strategies you’ll hear one school’s story.”

Consider your users

Consider the available technology

Consider your collection needs

Four Key “Dualities”

Fiction v. non-fiction

Single v. multiple user

Device download v. web-based access

Ownership v. lease (annual subscriptions)

Collection Development Questions

How do I start? Should I jump in now or wait?

Where will the $$$ come from?

How will eBooks affect my print collection?

What if I make a bad decision?

Is there duplication with database content?

How will my students find the eBooks? (“discovery”)

Are the answers different for elementary? Middle school? HS?

Collection Development Policies Must Change!

Increasingly centralized

Not as responsive to diverse populations

Balance e-collections with purchase of individual titles

Duplication of E- and print makes sense

E- may stimulate print and vice versa

Patron-driven vs. balanced collection

Everything you always wanted to know about eBooks and were afraid to ask. . . . .