Beyond Method #6

Ebooks have been a hot topic at our library recently--hot and controversial. About a year ago we installed Overdrive and had very few users. At the same time we would get users who wanted us, the reference librarians, to help them set up their Nooks & Kindles. Of course we'd do everything we could to direct them to our Overdrive station and subscription, but it never really caught on, one specifically critical reason for this being that so many of Overdrive's ebooks and audio downloads were checked out and needed to "place a hold" on a book. With the budget cuts and lack of patron use, our Overdrive subscription has been steadily phased out and will cease our membership as of next month. Fortunately with the rise of ebook awareness has come several more thrifty options in regards to lending and downloading ebooks. Recently we did a couple of pathfinders highlighting ebooks and ebook lenders as well as websites providing free or cheaper services for the e-reading public. Those can be found here and here. Project Gutenberg, which has been around probably the longest of all ereader services, is still a great site for anyone who wants to read the classics, especially those which are hard to find. And it's fairly easy to use, locating and accessing said items not as difficult as some other ereader sites which want you to jump through hoops. Of course your new bestsellers and contemporary classics aren't so readily available. But I was still able to locate and download a copy of Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau in its complete, unabridged form.