Whether you prefer to read a book printed on paper or appearing on a screen can be a very personal decision. But thanks to OverDrive, a program within the Upper Hudson Library System, you can now find both at your local library.
A total of 1,835 copies of e-books were circulated in the entire library system (which includes 29 libraries in Albany and Rensselaer counties) in the program’s inaugural year, 2006. So far this year there have been 41,453 e-books circulated – and it’s only half over.
Over 10,000 eBooks titles are available through the library system’s OverDrive program. While the popularity of eBooks is growing, there does not seem to be any trend pointing toward the demise of our tried and true paper bound books.
“This is not the end of books,” said Tim Burke, executive director of the Upper Hudson Library System.
There are over 2 million items (including DVDs, e-books, books and magazines) among the libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System circulated every year, so physical borrowing still has a big leg up on electronic exchanges.
The Southern Adirondack Library System, including Saratoga, Warren, Washington and Hamilton counties and the Mohawk Valley Library System, which includes Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery and Fulton counties, also offer OverDrive.
Burke said the majority of library systems in the state are offering “some kind of downloadable content.”
The idea of getting e-books via OverDrive started in 2005 when Jo-Ann M. Benedetti, manager of Information and Outreach Services for the Upper Hudson Library System, discovered the program when it was introduced at a library association conference.
“Our libraries in Albany and Rensselaer counties got very excited, and we decided to pursue it. This is one of the services that we wanted to provide,” said Benedetti.
OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are the content provider for Upper Hudson Library System and many others throughout the country.
Burke said that the technology and set-up of e-book borrowing in2005 “was not quite as sophisticated” as it is now, but they wanted to “get in early” so that they would be ready when the technology end of things was figured out.
“We didn’t have a big collection, and what we did have wasn’t used very much. Most of it was audio book downloads for the MP3 player, things like that. It was a pretty small part of our collective circulation. Then in2010 the tablet boom kind of hit,” said Burke. “When you look at e-book circulation, it’s certainly growing at a dramatic rate. I don’t think it’s replacing hardcover books but certainly it’s starting to have an impact.”
According to Benedetti, folks are also getting library cards solely to borrow e-books.
The Bethlehem Public Library has seen an increase in e-book circulation since they started with OverDrive in 2010. Geoffrey Kirkpatrick, the library’s director, said that it still is a “fairly small segment” of the library’s overall circulation.
In July of 2010 the library circulated 266 e-books. In July of 2011that number jumped to 668. Data for June show 1,484 e-books have circulated through the Bethlehem Library.
Kirkpatrick said there is usually a spike in e-book circulation right around Christmas, which is reflective of many patrons receiving electronic reading devices as gifts.
“They come into the library and go, ‘What do I do with it?’ and our librarians are experts (in helping them),” he said.
The library offers individual instruction on using the devices, as well as group classes. You can also borrow a Kindle from Bethlehem and a number of other area libraries.
Users can borrow a title for one, two or three weeks. After that time, the title simply expires and can’t be accessed. It’s makes overdue fines a thing of the past.
“It can’t be damaged, it can’t be lost and it can’t be stolen,” Kirkpatrick added.
The library’s selection still doesn’t rival that of hard copybooks, but it’s ever growing. Not all publishers offer their titles to libraries for their collections, and of the ones that do, each has its own set of rules and costs of titles to libraries.
With traditional books, libraries typically pay less than retail for a copy, and are able to accept donated books. However, that is not the case with e-books. Benedetti said that libraries have to pay retail, and are not able to accept donated e-book titles.
“Some allow for up to 26 check outs, then we purchase (the title) again. All of them (publishers) are reacting individually,” she said.
For more on borrowing e-books, visit your local library or digitalcollection.uhls.org.
