Ebook survey preliminary responses

So far, there have been over 100 responses to our survey about the possibilities for ebooks at the Hutchinson Public Library.  As far as surveys go, that's quite a large number for us without even working to drum up responses.

Here's a summary of the responses so far:

• 29% of the respondents already own an ebook reader of some sort, while 71% do not.
• 55% of respondents indicated they will be buying a reader this year or next, while 27% indicated they had no plans to buy one.
• 83% of respondents indicating they already owned or would be buying an ebook reader stated that they would borrow ebooks from HPL were they available.
• 86% of respondents indicated they didn't care what format they received (paper or ebook) as long as it helped shorten holds lists.
• 6% of respondents did not want to use an ebook reader at all.

What does this information mean for us?  The raw numbers indicate that the opinion of the HPL users is we should move forward with the experiment.  However, I am worried about some of the comments in the "tell us your opinion about ebooks" area at the end of the survey.  Not because they are negative.  On the contrary, the comments are quite positive.  But there is a lot of misunderstanding about how ebook checkout will work here.  Chief among these is that it is clear people do not understand that buying a Kindle ties them to purchase books from Amazon.  There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but people will be disappointed when they are unable to checkout ebooks from the library because of the reader they have chosen.

Here is a quick comparison of "major" name ebook readers and their abilities (detailed comparison here):

Sony Pocket Edition - .epub, .html, .pdf, .txt files, plus compatible with the Library's OverDrive service.
B&N nook - .epub, .pdb, .pdf, .mp3, plus compatible with the Library's OverDrive service.
Pandigital Novel - .epub support, plus compatible with the Library's OverDrive service.
Amazon Kindle - .azw support NOT compatible with the Library's OverDrive service.
Apple iPad -  .... .epub, .pdf support NOT compatible with the Library's OverDrive service.

Interesting to note, the Pandigital and Apple devices have color screens which would be ideally suited to viewing things like children's picture books.  With the variety of formats, proprietary systems battles, and the enormous number of devices just on the horizon, this roiling sea of choices is what we must navigate.

State-wide talks

I suppose you could accuse me of being old-fashioned.  Although I have Skype, access to multiple online conferencing services, chat, email, etc. I still think there is value in a face-to-face meeting.  Even when that meeting requires a several-hours drive as is almost always the case in our state, there is value.  On Monday the State Librarian, Jo Budler, held a second meeting for the directors of the "larger" public libraries - those that serve populations of 20k-100k - here at HPL.

We covered a number of topics including updates to discussions from our first meeting back in August at the Topeka Shawnee County Library.  The discussions could be held, of course, through a variety of the aforementioned media and they often are.  In fact, we heard a presentation from an OCLC (library cooperative) representative about a state-wide library marketing campaign using Webex and Skype.

The thing you do not get from distance-meeting tools though is the opportunity to see the (in this case) other libraries, staff, and towns.  It makes a difference.  It helps put things in context and at least for me, brings better understanding.

And finally, it was interesting to discover that Hays Public Library is contemplating a change similar to what we are thinking about here.  EBooks are not ubiquitous yet, but they will be at some point soon.  Rather than fearing the changes they may bring to public libraries, we need to grab them up and use them for the advantages they can provide.

Public Service

Here it is, another Saturday afternoon at the Information Desk at HPL.  Every third weekend rolls around quickly.  Right now it seems fairly quiet, but it is noon and we have National Gaming Day activities starting at 2pm. Lots of people, my wife included, think that my helping cover at the desks on weekends is crazy.  Afterall, I am the director and "I don't have to if I don't want to", right?  Actually, I think that is exactly wrong.  If there were more hours in the week, I'd actually work more public service time at places other than just the Information Desk.  It's the best way to find out what our patrons are concerned about, what our staff is challenged with, and generally, how well we are doing our job.

What is working well?  I, for one, am using the Reference Dept. iPad all the time.  What a time-saver to be standing out in our far-flung stacks checking availability or similar titles, or completely different topics without having to traipse back to a catalog terminal.

What isn't working well?  Our roof, for one.  The rain from late Thursday through Friday found a couple of new weaknesses.  So it is probably "out to bid" for us on that.  Electrical plugs and seating are another area we could really work to improve.

As I look over the top of the monitor, I see a patron looking puzzled so no more time for idle blogging - off to help.

More Prairie Book Festival Press

The goodwill shown to the library for hosting the Prairie Book Festival back in September has really been fantastic.  A State Library News post featured articles about the PBF, the book festivals in Iola and Osborne, and a nice bit on the Lisa Dale Norton memoir workshop (also held here at the Hutchinson Public Library).  If nothing else, all the planning and effort that went into the Festival has come back to us in the form of awareness-raising publicity.  "Stuff" actually does go on in that enormous beige brick building on Main Street!

I am looking forward to next year with a mix of excitement and dread.  Excitement around the idea that we might produce an improved festival for Hutchinson; dread regarding how much work it is to pull off!  It is worth it though.  It really was a lot of fun and I think a worthy project for the Library.  We are, after all, dedicated to reading.  I think you can build enthusiasm for reading and education by providing opportunities to get "up close" and hear from those talented folks who write.  Lots of fun - thanks again to everyone who helped make it a success and we hope to see you next year!

What to do about "those few"

I have always held that rules for public places (like libraries) punish the honest users rather than deter the few folks the rules are meant to control.  In libraries, none is more basic than trying to hold patrons accountable for items they have checked out and never returned.  I am not talking about the person with $3 in overdue fines, but the few patrons at the other end of the spectrum.  At HPL we have an elaborate system of warnings, notices, and finally a collection agency to try and retrieve our materials from a relatively small number of folks who, for whatever reason, feel like they can check things out of the library and never return them.

Having been a public librarian for quite some time now, I have heard a tremendous variety of excuses from library users who just can't seem to get things back and checked in.  The excuses run the gamut from denying ever having "that book" in the first place to having returned items in the drop box, "so they are here somewhere", trying to make it the libraries fault.  These situations usually involve one or two items and rarely amount to any significant money.  But what really gets me are that small (but expensive) group who decide at some point to deliberately check out a large quantity of items, usually in a narrow subject range, with no intention of ever bringing them back.

What to do about this group then?  They don't respond to collection agency coercion.  They don't seem to acknowledge any sort of correspondence at all, polite, threatening, or otherwise.  Small claims court is an option in Kansas since library materials are included in a state statute covering property crime, I would assume specifically for this type of problem.

This seems like a reasonable solution since there appears to be no other effective method of trying to "get our stuff back".  Though, it brings with it a whole array of publicity issues that would have to be considered.  It doesn't look quite right when the library starts hauling people in to court over some missing books.  But the patrons I am thinking of have hundreds of dollars worth of our materials.  I suppose it comes down to what would be considered acting as a "good steward" of tax dollars.  After all, people who steal from the public library are really stealing from from all of us.

E-books and e-book readers for lending bestsellers

Recently, one of my colleagues here at HPL made a good case for e-books and e-readers as circulating items at our library.  The general idea:  Why not purchase any extra copies of upcoming bestsellers in e-format and load them on circulating e-readers?  We already have a terrible overcrowding problem in our adult fiction collection especially.  Many times, we are forced to move extra copies into our basement storage area.  This practice means extra steps (literally) for staff to retrieve books and extra wait time for patrons.  The purchase of a number of readers - maybe Nooks or Sonys could solve this (I don't think Amazon's Kindle would cut it for this purpose, although I could be wrong).

Certainly, the devices are individually more pricey than a hardback book.  But it wouldn't take many copies of bestselling titles to get up into the $149-$199 range.  The readers could hold a large number of titles and take up a minuscule amount of space.  We could begin to thin out our "overflow" storage and beef up our ability to meet immediate demand.  Sure, we take a risk that the readers might be damaged or never return, but we take that risk with books, DVDs, and CDs hundreds of thousands of times per year.  Hmm...sounds like a new project.

What is it about shelf reading?

For over a year, the most popular post I have written has been this one.  It is a bit of my waxing poetic about shelf reading, of all things.  This is one of the few posts that draws in random readers from all over the place.  (Not very many readers, but readers nonetheless!)  But why do people look at that post?  It's not like there is a dearth of information about "shelf reading".

So, since I needed to think about this, I got up from my desk and went out to get my thinking in order...shelf reading.  The more I think about this, the more I wonder if people really are just wondering from what sort of insanity I must be suffering.

Looking at some of the Google results for "shelf reading" like this guide to stack management, there is a lot of information out there pertaining to shelf reading.  While most of the info I found is far more informative than my info, none of it makes it sound like more than a necessary evil.  I suppose for that reason, I'm proud of my two cents on the subject, regardless of why others might look at it.  I still believe shelf reading is interesting and fun besides being one of the most useful tasks to undertake in a library.

By the way - I know that people have bad days.  I know too that times are hard, nerves frayed and confidence sapped.  But why the spate of people being rude to our public service staff?  We try hard to please.  We don't ask much of you.  Simple things really:  Be respectful of others using the library.  That includes being patient with the staff and our contracting partners.  We are thinly spread and as a group, not the most highly-compensated.  For the most part we all do what we do because we like the idea of the library, not because we're getting rich.  So by all means, let us know where we need to improve but please be civil.