ALA Midwinter 2011: Thorniest Reference Question of the 21st Century: How Do I Use My Ereader?
Public librarians find more of their days devoured by device education. By Michael Kelley Jan 17, 2011Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, said at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in San Diego that his greatest fear is that "libraries would just become a customer service department for a few large corporations."
Kahle spoke on a panel at a packed session on January 8 about the challenges ebooks present to libraries.
But for many public librarians around the country, Kahle's fear has already been realized, at least in part, as they handle an onslaught of confused masses beseeching librarians to teach them how to use their newly purchased ereaders or tablet computers.
The demand on librarians' time and expertise is only going to grow. In 2010, ebook revenue is expected to account for 7.2 percent of all U.S. consumer book sales, according to a just released report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The same report predicts that ebooks will have a 22.5 percent market share in 2015.
OverDrive, the leading distributor of ebooks to public libraries, reported this month that its ebook checkouts at libraries rose 200 percent in 2010, and according to Gartner Inc., a Connecticut-based digital research firm, ereader sales are expected to total 6.6 million units in 2010, up 79.8 percent from 2009 sales of 3.6 million units. In 2011, worldwide e-reader sales are projected to surpass 11 million units, a 68.3 percent increase from 2010.
The list goes on, inexorably, and libraries will have to figure out how they link to this digital food chain. But for now, one of the more prominent roles seems to be that of ereader teacher, and whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.
A library world without devices?
For Kahle, the solution is simple: support a browser-based platform for ebooks.
"We should get out of the device market," he said. "Long-term, devices in librarianship will be moved to the margin."
But just as Kahle declared that "the ebook thing isn't happening, it's happened," a number of public librarians might reply the same about ereaders, which, for now, are far from the margins and one of their most prevalent reference questions.
"After Christmas people are coming in more, and Barnes and Noble is sending them over here," Marian M. Reisman, a librarian at the Scottsdale Public Library, AZ, told LJ. "It's becoming a very prominent part of our day."
"Yesterday a patron asked when is the Kindle going to be compatible with OverDrive. How are we supposed to know? We are caught between a rock and a hard place, and we can't give them an answer, but we are being asked to be the tech wizard," she said.
Sara Weissman, a reference librarian at the Morris County Library in New Jersey told LJ that as ereaders penetrate more deeply into the culture they begin to touch patrons who are not necessarily technologically adept.
"What we're finding is that the multiplicity of the devices is creating confusion," she said. "I recently dealt with several older patrons who were given Kindles by their children, and they don't know what to do. Mystification is their reaction. It's the old business of those in the know, know, and those that don't, ask the librarians."
Sue Polanka, the head of reference and instruction at Paul Laurence Dunbar Library at Wright State University, OH, was a copanelist with Kahle in San Diego. She said that if libraries cannot figure out a way to get ebooks that do not have so many barriers to access, then "we aren't going to be a part of the picture." (Polanka also moderated a panel on ebooks and academic libraries at the LJ/SLJ virtual summit, Ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point.)
She contrasted the way libraries were able to successfully adapt to the Internet and educate people about its use with the current struggle to integrate ebooks and ereaders.
"It's time to start educating people about what all these devices are," she said. "Educate them like we always have."
Opportunities to provide patron service
Kathy Robins, the library information systems coordinator at the Parmly Billings Library in Billings, MT, said teaching patrons about ereaders was a valuable opportunity.
"People want more downloadable material. This is what is going to happen in the future and librarians need to be familiar with the hardware," Robins said. "And if we can't assist them then we're going to miss a lot of service opportunities for the patrons."
Robins said they also get support from OverDrive.
"We use OverDrive for content and use their support as a backup to our own knowledge. And they've been great coming through," she said.
David Burleigh, OverDrive marketing director, said the need for ereader training has definitely grown over the past year.
"We believe strongly in awareness and education, first starting with the librarians and giving them the tools they need so they can continue to answer questions from the patrons," he told LJ.
In addition to online training, the company's digital bookmobile visited nearly 100 libraries and schools in 2010.
An ereader petting zoo
The Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio (2010 LJ Library of the Year) has put together one of the more comprehensive attempts to educate patrons about ereaders.
"We launched a petting zoo," Robin Nesbitt, technical services director at Columbus, told LJ, explaining how the library put up a display of seven devices that patrons can play with, as they would in an electronics store.
"It's a whole new learning curve for our staff and for our patrons, especially trying to explain digital rights management," she said. "We are trying to educate the populace that, at the end of the day, libraries are not really driving the boat."
Right in the center of the Columbus library's home page is a message warning patrons about the incompatibility of Kindle with OverDrive. The library has also put together online training modules and classes to help patrons better understand ereaders.
"It's taken all of our time," Nesbitt said. "I'm particularly amazed at how quickly it went from virtually no demand to it's just crazy. It's like a light switch went on."
But Nesbit said the time was well spent.
"We show people all the time how to set up an email account or how to use a mouse; it's good because it helps keep libraries relevant, and a vital part of our mission is to help patrons find their way."
Lack of written policies
Even with a willingness to help, best practices remain elusive and were the subject of a recent thread on Publib.
"Technology is moving so quickly and librarians feel they can't keep up, and they have to serve same number of patrons with fewer hands," said Weissman, who is also Publib co-moderator. Her library now only has six reference librarians, down from 11 a few years ago.
"The other thread is that libraries tend to be about equity of service," she said. "And the fact is that we have staff with varying degrees of technical proficiency, so how do you even out the staff skills? It creates unequal service to patrons depending on who they get, but you cannot not provide the help."
Scottsdale's Reisman is dealing with similar questions about policy.
"We want to help people with this, but we have to have guidelines as to how far we can go," she said. There has been little guidance beyond not touching patrons' devices in order to avoid liability for the city, she said.
Still, Weissman takes comfort from the flow of patrons seeking help.
"The good news is patrons have come to think of library as place where they can get some technological answers and you want to rise to that occasion."
Check back for updates to Midwinter coverage this week.
