Have you noticed a spike in eBook circulation this summer? At our library we have hopes and dreams of seeing an increase in our eCirculation, not solely during an intense reading period, but throughout the school year. There is no question that an increase wouldn’t just be dependent on patrons having knowledge of the library’s eCollection, but also their access and ease of use, both for parents and kids. In the spring the teen department and children’s library decided to debut an e-Reading Room through Overdrive. The purpose of the offering is to provide youth with a safe and kid-friendly environment in which to browse the library’s eCollection. Bringing increased exposure to our digital collection is one of our continued goals in the department, both for kids and teens, but making it a lot easier to search and download may be a lot more difficult than simply creating a virtual…
Author: Digital Content Task Force
Hot Dogs, get your Hot Dogs
Galactic Hot Dogs, that is! Cosmoe’s Weiner Getaway is the first book in a three part series written by Max Brallier and published by Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book has taken off on Funbrain.com, a popular gaming website for children that has been a launch pad for some of the biggest blockbuster hits in children’s book publishing. Jeff Kinney’s ever popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid got its start there as a free book in 2004 and now has over 150 million copies in print. Other titles such as Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries series, Lincoln Pierce’s Big Nate and Brandon Mull’s best-selling fantasy series The Beyonders all of gaining wider audiences due to their popularity on Funbrain and its sister site Poptropica. Galactic Hot Dogs seems to be destined for the same success. More than six million children have read the book on Funbrain since…
Can Tech Lovers Still Celebrate Screen-Free Week?
In early May people nationwide will be celebrating Screen-Free Week for a chance to unplug and smell the roses. For the past two years our tech-savvy children’s librarians have participated and it has actually sparked valuable dialogue with parents and caregivers about actively participating in their child’s screen-time activities. Last year we removed the iPads in the library and asked the community to pledge what they would do with the additional time as a result of the screen fast. Comments ranged from riding a bike, to playing more basketball, and of course our favorite response from a mystery patron – find a job asap. The librarians offered resources and articles to parents on monitoring screentime, while also sharing some of our favorite apps which include award-winners and professional recommendations. The question is can we still advocate for the appropriate use of tech with kids, while also valuing a little unplugging of…
Building a great e-audio collection
The audiobooks in your library’s digital collection are easy to access from computers, tablets, iPods and smartphones. As you build and market the collection, keep in mind the different ways that children and families use audiobooks, and select titles to meet a variety of needs. Preschool children may be drawn to the stories and characters of their favorite picture books. Think carefully about how the text will play without the pictures that help tell the story. You’ll also want to take checkout limits into consideration. Collections of multiple books, like Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss, and early chapter books like Hooray for Anna Hibiscus! may be more attractive to borrowers than a title which only lasts a few minutes. Families listening together need titles that appeal to everyone. Stories like The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher include characters of multiple ages. Parents listening with older children will…
More on Assistive Technologies
I’ll confess, like many of you I collect apps. I have an old tablet devoted to nothing but “kid” apps. Finding information about a variety of book apps is relatively easy now that so many of us are using them and reviewing them. One question I am asked frequently is “Can you recommend any assistive technology apps?” There are several that have caught my eye recently so I decided to give them a try. I was impressed with the continued growth and development of these types of applications. There are many people, both young and old that could benefit greatly from using these simple programs. All the apps mentioned are intuitive, easy to use, some have a nominal fee and others are free. Kidspiration Maps is a kid friendly mind-mapping app for the iPad. Kidspiration is similar to the Inspiration Maps, but Kidspiration includes more kid friendly templates and clipart like…
3D Printing Programs for Kids
Last weekend as I was changing the spool of plastic on the Makerbot for a boy and his dad to finish printing and I just had to chuckle to myself. With my legs up on the table and the PLA plastic in my mouth, I maneuvered to feed the green string through the extruder. Never in a million years would I have imagined that this could be a daily reality for a children’s librarian. New technologies continue to challenge my preconceived notions of where the library profession would lead me. Technology continues to revolutionize the way our world functions, and public libraries are in a unique position when it comes to educating kids and families and preparing them for these changes. The American Library Association recently published a paper that tackles 3D Printing technology, public policy, and the role of libraries in this conversation. When we received our 3D printer…
‘Tis the Tablet Season
You may have already noticed an influx of questions related to your library’s digital offerings within the past 48 hours. The holidays are an obvious time to increase exposure to the library’s eBook collection, the same way the pre-season calls for gift-giving guides and best books lists. Even while home for the holidays, I found myself pointing family to their local library’s Digital eLibrary. Similar to many patrons that we encounter, my family had no idea that the public library circulates eBooks. As librarians approaching this upcoming week, there are definitely ways to be in tune to the needs of new tablet owners. At our most recent Family Tech Night, an evening reserved for eReader assistance, most of the attendees were senior patrons. Having a children’s staff open to collaboration with other departments benefits patrons of all ages in the community. The post-holiday week might be just the right time to…
Hooray to Simon & Schuster for dropping the “Buy It Now” requirement on their ebooks!
In June, when Simon & Schuster made their ebooks available only to libraries who agreed to add a “Buy It Now” option to their catalog, I was torn between two important promises libraries make to kids and families: we will do everything we can to get you the books you want, and everything we offer is free. My library holds the line on keeping things free in many ways, even to the point of refusing to offer summer reading coupons that require an additional purchase to get that free ice cream cone. Parents value libraries as places where they know they can escape the relentless pressure to buy stuff, and our commitment to keep it so extends online. But what happens when the trade-off is keeping popular titles out of our ebook collection? I was stumped. I spent the past few months not taking a stand, simply delaying. Looking askance…