Digital books are hot. If you’ve got an e-reader, Kindle or any other kind of digital reading device, there’s good chance you’ve paid to download a book. Did you even think to check if the local library had a digital section? If you’re like 97 percent of Rhode Islanders, probably not.
Lisa Davis, assistant director of Ocean State Libraries, describes her job as the library’s liaison with the downloadable media vendor. Basically, she has been the face behind OSL’s EZone for the past three years.
OSL announced the addition of 15,000 new, free e-book titles on Monday thanks to Project Gutenberg, the largest collection of free electronic books. Davis points out that the influx of titles more than doubles the previous amount offered by OSL.
Most popular titles? Even online, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Steig Larson takes the cake, while James Patterson’s “Don’t Blink,” is also in high demand.
PBN: How have you seen the digital aspect of libraries evolve? Were we completely without digital media three years ago or did we already have a presence?
DAVIS: In January 2006, 11 of Ocean State Libraries’ public libraries piloted offering downloadable media to their patrons. Early adopters of the technology quickly became avid users, and by July 2007 the entire consortium agreed to participate in offering downloadable media in the form of audio books, e-books, music and movies to its patrons. An entire website, called Ocean State Libraries EZone, devoted to the service was created, and the available titles were linked in to the online catalog as well. The site changes constantly.
In these three years, the service has become easier to use, and the number and types of e-book readers and audiobook devices on which the media can be played has continuously expanded. With those changes, and the increased adoption of e-book readers in general, it has been exciting to watch the use of EZone take off.
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PBN: The libraries have recently received some funding to increase the number of books available online. Are the digital downloads a popular method of reading books?
DAVIS: A very small percentage of library patrons, about 3 percent, use EZone today. Last year we had about 11,000 users and this year we have about 16,000 users. The number of users and of checkouts are growing exponentially. However, the checkouts would be much higher if we did not have to limit patrons to having at most six checkouts at one time.
We have these limits because … they literally fly off of the virtual shelves as soon as we purchase them.
PBN: What about the digital download stations at the libraries? Wouldn’t most people who have an iPad or e-reader have access to the Internet and be able to download it at home?
DAVIS: Currently the download stations allow a patron to transfer music or audiobooks only (not e-books) directly to their compatible devices. There are many people who use libraries to access the Internet because they do not have service in their homes. The economy has forced some people to drop their service and others could not afford it.
The download service within a library is also easier to use, because the patron does not have to download the software that manages their checkouts nor do they have to then transfer the book or music to their portable players.
Cumberland Public Library and Pawtucket Public Library were the first Rhode Island public libraries to offer a digital download station to their patrons. Since then, the public libraries in East Greenwich, Johnston, Jamestown, Greenville, Cranston, North Kingstown, North Providence and Newport have purchased or been a grant recipient of a digital download station.
PBN: Do you think a point will come when people will only use the library online?
DAVIS: That time has already arrived, and we expect this group to grow. We can see that some patrons are using their library cards but are not checking out physical materials from libraries. While we hope that these patrons might be using the library for other services and programs, we know there are many that are using only the online services available.
PBN: How else would you like to see the library’s online services expand? What unexplored territory is out there for OSL?
DAVIS: I believe that four years from now, that number will be more than 500,000 checkouts. We have to meet that demand, and we have to make it increasingly easier to use the downloading service. I would love to see an EZone application for smart phones, and I would love to find new users who have mobile technology but may not be connected at home.
