E-books and audiobooks
are appealing because a user can access books from anywhere they can connect to
the Internet. Some e-books are available
for free through a local libraries, but not all newly released books can be
accessed (at least that has been my experience) and many e-books are never
published. Many people enjoy the atmosphere
at the library and the services they offer.
Ebooks and audiobooks do take away library users. Instead free up space in the library so it
can be used for other materials or activities that will attract patrons.
I don’t think a person’s
knowledge of a genre is dependent upon being able to physically hold a
book. Knowledge about a genre would come
from the reader’s experience of reading and following along with the plot and
their ability to reason. I think some
genres like romance are growing in popularity because there is some anonymity
with Ebooks and audiobooks.
According
to the Dunneback and Trott article, “with audiobooks, as long as the patron had
a device that played the physical format, it didn’t matter what the device was
because the device itself contributed minimally to the reading experience. With e-book readers, this is not the case”
(2011, p. 327). The author goes on to
explain users with different scenarios and how it could affect the reader. I think for most people the device being used
to listen to an audiobook or read e-books will not take away from the reading experience,
but enhance it. Many struggling readers
or users who have vision problems have many tools on the e-reader available to
make their reading experience more enjoyable.
As
a teacher, I love having audiobooks and e-readers available for my
students. My struggling readers can
listen to audiobooks and read popular age appropriate books that their peers
are reading. Students with disabilities
can also enhance the text to help with comprehension. I don’t think e-books and audiobooks are
tools that negatively affect the library and its users.
Hi Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see the benefit of getting kids into reading using devices! That’s an interesting point about e-books and audiobooks clearing out the library to make more space for activities and events. This definitely can be true. I also feel that one thing to consider is that it might also allow for foot traffic of another kind. This was the case during my internship. I found that e-book, audiobook, and device questions were some of the more dominant and common questions from patrons approaching the desk. I agree it does clear out the library in a way, but it also might pave the way for additional reference desk inquiries.
I also agree that knowledge of a genre or genres is not a dependent upon the format, however, I do feel when you start getting into such appeals as font size affecting pacing, narration style, and other novel-altering format features; that’s when the librarian has to start doing their homework and inform themselves to the device features and appeal factors which may be affected by the devices, which may affect or come up with patrons.
Kimberly, you said, "Ebooks and audiobooks do take away library users. Instead free up space in the library so it can be used for other materials or activities that will attract patrons."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you mean here. My library offers ebooks and audiobooks to patrons, so users are accessing them either at the physical library or our virtual library, so I'm not sure that we're losing patrons by offering these additional formats. Perhaps you mean that people buy and download them elsewhere, which is competition for the library? That's likely true, but it is true of regular print books as well. If you don't want to spend the money to purchase them, you'll still need to utilize your local library. Also, I'm not sure what you mean about freeing up space. Ebooks don't take any space, and the library is more than happy to dedicate space for audiobooks just as we do for print books, movies, music, and other collections. Free up space for what? If our patrons are using these materials, then the space is well utilized.
I think the problem you noted with many books not being available through library ebook lending is a result of the conflict between publishers and libraries which needs to continue to evolve. I expect that demand will continue to drive this in the direction of more access.
You said, "As a teacher, I love having audiobooks and ereaders available for my students." I will say that as a librarian, I love having audiobooks and ebooks available for my community.
Thanks for offering such a great discussion and such food for thought!
Fantastic prompt response! Full points!
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