Dorcas+Hand

Does Your School Library Need Books? What Kinds of Books Does YOUR School Library Need? Dorcas Hand Director of Libraries, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston TX    dhand@aoshouston.org Dorcas Hand has been Director of Libraries at AOS since 1990, building the school’s library from a tiny, poorly managed collection to the current print collection of 29,000 items plus a substantial investment in digital resources. In June, 2010, she published //Independent School Libraries: Perspectives in Excellence// (Libraries Unlimited), a collection of 21 essays by 20 authors from independent schools across the country. See [|www.lu.com/excellence]  for further details. Her MLS is from SUNY Albany, and her BA in Art History from Wellesley College.

 Familiar, Pleasant to hold  Variety of formats, sizes  Can be beautiful or just functional  Index and Table of Contents  Durable with reasonable care  No electronics needed  Portable; easy to share  Format will last hundreds of years  Lots of experience managing print  Estimated 130 million books worldwide (source: Google) || **Print with Embedded Links**  The main resource is linear as traditional print  The embedded links offer a non-linear component for greater depth or breadth || **eReaders**  Light-weight  Holds thousands of books in one unit  Easily configured for different reader preferences  Text-to-speech functionality  Editorial corrections possible  Easy to re-charge  Vanity press and student publications possible  Can include live links to additional information  Searchable within the resource **On-screen eReading**  Fewer limits on format  Findable by search engine  Searchable content  Informational eBooks may be included in databases  Can include animation and live links  Not library accessible 24/7  Once printed, the format is fixed  Heavy  Chronic physical space requirement  Limited to one-on-one usage || **Print with Embedded Links**  Will readers actually use embedded links from a print resource? || **eReader devices**  Viewing limited by screen/device  Index cumbersome; page numbers not useful (yet)  Sharing content limited by format (ePub, .mobi, etc); books often not interchangeable on different eReader platforms  Library collection issues cloudy as yet  Library Loan problematic due to DRM and devices  Devices wear out/break  Platforms will continue to evolve limiting long term durability **On-screen eReading**  Discourages reading in-depth and full length texts whether fiction or nonfiction  Estimated only 10 million books digitized **All Digital** These lenses and questions were compiled originally for school administrators attending the National Association of Independent Schools conference in February, 2011. Realizing that you librarians will always be developing your ideas and plans for digital books with awareness of your own administrators, I have left that focus in place. **Three Lenses:**  The school mission and digital goals  Preparation for college level academic research tools  Specific digital access points that accomplish these goals **What do you want?**  What is the school’s goal in implementing eBooks and other digital resources?  How do these goals impact student preparedness for college research demands? **Prepared for college research?**  Are your students gaining a solid foundation in critical thinking?  Does your administration recognize the importance of an integrated information literacy program to success in college?  What learning outcomes do you expect from eBooks, and how do you plan to assess success? How will you know that your students are prepared for college? **How do students best read and understand new information?**  Research indicates that traditional print still most successful format for deep reading  What are your literacy goals?  What supporting infrastructure and/or student supports do you have in place or need to insure student success with digital options? **Balance Points** **Main Library Services**
 * || **PRINT**  ||  **INTERACTIVE**  ||  DIGITAL  ||
 * **PROs** || **Books**
 * Content easily combined with database results ||
 * **CONs** || **Books**
 * “Younger” technology - more risk of data loss ||
 * Anecdotal observation indicates that student enthusiasm for digital formats may increase time spent reading
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Delivery systems for fiction and nonfiction may be different
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">The key is access: how do students locate materials for their needs? OPAC? Amazon/B&N? EBL/Overdrive?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Support reading, cover-to-cover reading, typically for recreation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Support research, more computer and reference focused

**Focusing with Tighter Vision**  **School Lens**  **Technical Lens**  **Space Lens**  **Collection Development Lens**  **Balance Lens**

**School Lens**  School philosophy  Acceptable Use policy  Current status of technology infrastructure and student access  Staff digital expertise  Student digital expertise **Technical Lens**  Cost issues  Access issues  Content  eReading devices  Digital textbooks

**Space Lens**  Shelf space  Library space <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ Seating <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ Hardware <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">◦ Wireless access **Collection Development Lens**  Collection Development Model  Ownership v. subscription **Balance Lens**

**School Lens** **Philosophy:** What does the school believe is the function of digital resources? Does the school think  eBooks help students step into the information stream at least as well as print resources?  Younger students will be enticed to read more and to develop stronger skills using digital and interactive formats?  Students, especially middle and high school, will learn more or with better understanding from digital formats?  OR, does the school have reservations you need to address about eBooks? **Acceptable Use Policy**  Does the school have an AUP?  Does the school tolerate, encourage or prohibit cell phones, iPads, non-school digital access of all kinds?  Does the AUP support campus access to all varieties of digital resources? Does the AUP need updating to accommodate the newer formats?  How does the AUP address 3G and 4G eReaders with unfiltered and uncontrolled internet access?

**Current Status** Increased access to digital resources requires increasing access to the internet and to a variety of hardware.  What changes to the school’s current digital infrastructure will be necessary to accommodate proposed levels of digital access?  Does the Lower School already use subscription products like TumbleBooks (interactive picture books) to increase reading enthusiasm and fluency?  What books of interest to your school are available digitally?  If your school chose to go completely digital, would those materials be available in one standard format, or would you need several eReader formats? **Staff Expertise**  Does the administration recognize that the library staff is tech savvy and ready to support eReaders?  Is the faculty ready to accept eReaders as sources of information or for required personal reading?  Does the curriculum teach appropriate citation and bibliographic skills to support all varieties of digital information?  Is the Tech support staff ready to support eReaders? **Student Expertise**  Are the students ready for eReaders and/or on-screen books? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ For fiction? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ For nonfiction read for pleasure? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ For magazines and newspapers? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">◦ For research requiring citation? **Technical Lens** **Cost issues**  Can you limit your eReader format to one standard? (Kindle, nook, other)  Will the school supply a device to every student?  Will students supply their own? What if students can’t afford the device?  What campus support will be available for hardware issues?  Some resources are available free online – are these the ones your school wants/needs?  What are the school’s plans concerning digital text books? **General Access Issues**  Will every student be expected to read at least some assignments digitally?  How many library eReaders will be enough?  What if a specific book is not available in the specific format? **Database Access Issues**  Will you consider as eBooks resources in subscription databases?  Can students easily locate full-length books in subscription databases? Will they be more or less likely to read the full book, or to copy/paste a short passage out of context?  Will eBooks in databases will be available to as many students as need at any given moment.

**Content**  Of 130 million books in print, only 10 million have been digitized.  Will the content of academic books be as accessible in digital and print formats? Is one format preferable for certain books? (maps, illustrations, double page spreads, picture books, art history)  Picture books, and other illustrated volumes in print come in a variety of sizes that enhance the specific illustrations. EReader editions will be limited by the size of the screen. **EReading Devices**  There is currently no standard format for the content of current devices (DRM, ePub, others).  Some books are proprietarily available only through one vendor, a fact which poses potential cost and content issues for a school – but this landscape is changing rapidly. **Space Lens** **Shelf Space**  The school library staff has carefully built the print collection over many years.  Building a comparable digital collection that supports curricular projects thoroughly will take another many years.  As the library grows in digital resources, balance in topic support, format and access are challenges to remember. **Seating Space**  Student seating will remain fairly constant.  Students will need library staff support to learn how to locate the best resources in any format for their assignments.  Consider what hardware the library needs to support student achievement: computers, print books and eReaders, printers, presentation software, wifi access, conference rooms for group projects, etc. **Collection Development Lens** Is what you need available digitally? **Traditional Collection Development model**  Librarian reads reviews and orders books to support known curricular needs and faculty/student requests (“Sage on the Stage”).  Traditional “On Demand” system aka Interlibrary Loan. ILL offers depth in historical and older materials; weaker in most current info. **Patron Driven Acquisitions Model for Collection Development**  On Demand: eReaders can supply requested material immediately, making the librarian the “Guide on the Side.”  Is there a problem? Without any review process, materials may be purchased that don’t meet designated selection criteria. **Problem:** when eReader breaks, multiple materials (all those on that device) gone. As licenses allow, they’ll need to be reloaded onto other devices. **Integrated Library System v. Amazon/B&N/Overdrive**  Both models require patron searches of available resources in any format.

**Ownership v. Subscription**

**Ownership**  For Kindles, Nooks, etc, libraries buy the book and then own it on that eReading device. Multiple copies tie up multiple eReaders which may also hold other books in demand.  Library circulation of eReaders is a murky area. Different vendors have different restrictions.  Books have been “repossessed” by the vendor without warning.

**Subscription**  There are subscription services for eReaders (OverDrive, EBL and others)  Subscription databases are often package deals; the library has no control of contents. Titles can be added or removed at vendor whim. Some titles may not be suitable for your library.  Strong libraries weed the print collection judiciously every year to maintain currency and insure books are in good condition.

**Balance Lens**

 Room for experimentation  Techno-stress and information overload  Community needs v. wants  Today’s answer will change  Be ready to be wrong, and learn to adjust

As the school looks ahead, how do questions about eBooks fit in the school’s long range plan? **//Find your school’s comfort zone on the spectrum of balance between traditional print books and new format eBooks. The transition can be slow or fast, and the end goal will certainly change with further developments in technology.//**