Score One For the Library Over Amazon
"But it turns out librarians haven't just been sitting around shushing people while the Internet drove them into irrelevance. More than 90% of American public libraries have amassed e-book collections you can read on your iPad, and often even on a Kindle. You don't have to walk into a branch or risk an overdue fine. And they're totally free."
So says The Wall Street Journal in its timely article "Why the Public Library Beats Amazon - For Now." The author explored a variety of best seller lists and found that public library e collections have many more of these titles than subscription services like Scribd, Oyster, and Kindle Unlimited. And of course - no monthly fee. The library card is still free! Certainly drawbacks like wait lists and due dates still exist. But - a variety of popular titles, for free should be hard for serious readers to resist.
Because of a grant, I was able to create an fairly substantial e book collection in my library. Students are pretty excited to be able to check out books on their devices, day or night, in any place that they can connect to the internet. I am pretty excited because these books are never returned three months late and/or damaged. While the older students seem to prefer physical books, the junior high kids are loving the accessibility of our e book collection.
Go libraries!