My school library has only just started offering eBooks and it has been interesting to see the mixed reactions to this.  We have subscribed to Wheelers eplatform as part of a consortium which was a much more affordable option than using OverDrive, which we had initially thought we would try. Initially, our eBook library was met with a lot of interest and excitement initially by the student, staff and parent community.  There has also been some resistance from parents who had concerns that their children used devices too frequently and would rather they read from print than from a device.  Rosenwald (2015) discusses how many students have commented they would rather have the print book than the e version and interestingly we have had a lot of similar feedback.  Numerous students have also said to me that they don’t want to read an eBook, they would rather wait for the print version to be available, even if it meant being in a wait list for many weeks.  It is too early to draw conclusions in our school setting but I will be regularly reviewing the usage statistics and undertake some research before any conclusions are drawn.  One massive benefit is immediate access to a book that is required by a student or staff member.  Also, the fact that we can offer books to be available every day of the week, even through school holidays.  I do however feel that for the library collection to remain relevant the non-fiction collection must be regularly weeded and ebooks and databases must play a very large part in providing students with a place to go for researching.

This decision has made me reflect on the changing digital landscape and my exposure and reaction to Ebooks.  I do not have an e reading device but have read a few ebooks on my phone or Ipad. I love a printed book, the smell, the feel and the whole experience of holding a book in my hand. I don’t rule out the fact that I may buy an e reader at some point but for now, the pile of books beside my bed, and the ones I still want to read in my school library is too large to warrant it.  I have also been following, with a great deal of interest, the statistics and predictions on how children’s books sales have been affected by the introduction of Ebooks.  As someone who has published children’s picture books, I have attended a number of conferences over the past ten years where this has been a hot topic of conversation.  Shatzkin (2015, 2016) shares his views about how the digital landscape has changed the book publishing world and how ‘The Four Horsemen’- Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple influence and direct consumers in their book-buying choices. Like many literature buffs, I have always liked to support small independent bookstores and live in the hope that some of them will continue to thrive even though book sales are dominated by online booksellers.  I do use and appreciate the convenience of The Book Depository, which was in fact bought by Amazon in 2011.  This dominance of  ‘The Four Horsemen’  has numerous implications for school libraries when developing their collections because all of the “discovery” of new titles is mostly done online, driven “search engine optimization, social media promotion and word-of-mouth, and online retailer merchandising” (Shatzkin, 2016).

Ten years ago there was so much concern that print books would disappear entirely but in the children’s market, they have demonstrated that they are here to stay.  For a print lover, I am delighted to see that but as a TL I am also grateful for the convenience that eBooks bring when resourcing the school curriculum.

References:

Rosenwald, M.C. (2015). Why digital natives prefer reading in print: Yes, you read that right. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/why-digital-natives-prefer-reading-in-print-yes-you-read-that-right/2015/02/22/8596ca86-b871-11e4-9423-f3d0a1ec335c_story.html

Shatzkin, M. (2016).  Book publishing lives in an environment shaped by larger forces and always has. The Shatzkin Files. [blog]. The Idea Logical Company. Retrieved from http://www.idealog.com/blog/book-publishing-lives-in-an-environment-shaped-by-larger-forces-and-always-has/

Shatzkin, M. (2015). Big focus at DBW 2016 is the tech companies that are shaping the world the book business has to live in.The Shatzkin Files. [blog]. The Idea Logical Company. Retrieved from http://www.idealog.com/blog/2015/11/