SLJ, LJ's First Virtual Ebook Summit Is a Big Hit

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By Debra Lau Whelan September 30, 2010
If you're excited—or confused—about the future of ebooks but don't know which ereader to buy or the role of digital books in your school, you're not alone. These issues, along with ways to incorporate ebooks into lessons and present them to students in a cohesive way were among the compelling issues explored yesterday during "Ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point," the first virtual summit brought to you by School Library Journal and Library Journal.

More that 2,000 visitors tuned in yesterday to hear school, public, and academic librarians—along with publishers and content creators—talk about books in an increasingly digital world. But the summit's success went beyond numbers—it brought together knowledgeable and provocative panelists and speakers, and an audience that engaged in online chats, tweeted, virtually visited vendors, and viewed close to 10,000 conference-related documents.

Indeed, ebooks have come a long way from the shiny CDs of the last 10 years; everywhere you look, there are Kindles, iPads, Nooks, and more than a dozen other ereaders. That's why it's crucial for librarians to decide what exact role they'll play in libraries, classrooms, and at home.

For Christopher Harris (right), coordinator of the School Library System for the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership in New York, Amazon's terms of service for the Kindle just don't cut it, especially since the retail giant has the ability to remotely delete books from these devices, potentially posing a serious problem for librarians on limited budgets, explains Harris, a panelist on "Reality Check: Putting Ebook Reading Devices into Kids' Hands," one of the daylong event's two discussions aimed at librarians who work with youth and K-12 students.

The Kobo ereader offered by Borders is another alternative. And of course, there's the iPad, which features audio and full-color visual media such as books, periodicals, movies, music, and games, along with web browsing. But since its high price tag (starting at $499) could be problematic, Harris says there are other cheaper tablet computers in production with similar features. The bottom line? Librarians must ask themselves what they want from ereaders, whether they're teaching at the elementary level, where books tend to be light on text and heavy on pictures, or in middle and high school, where the opposite holds true.

How will ereaders affect instruction? Harris's school district is already testing iPads in an AP English and AP History class to "jump-start ebooks and learning," he says.

Smart phones, like the iPhone, Palm, or Android are a noteworthy option, explains Calvin Reid (left), another panelist and senior news editor at Publishers Weekly, where he covers general book news and digital publishing. "Expect to see more reading on [smartphones] in the future," says Reed, adding that the iPod Touch has transformed his own digital reading experience. "They'll be part of the reading landscape."

Jason Griffey (right), the head of library information technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, agrees that the iPad "will not be the only game in town in the next few months." He predicts ereaders will become more socially interactive devices as they move into schools and universities, with the ability to share text, pose questions, and communicate between teacher and students. He also sees the devices becoming relatively inexpensive with more robust web capabilities and a rich multimedia component.

While the jury is still out on whether ereaders—like television—have a negative impact on young children, Warren Buckleitner (left), the founding editor of Children's Technology Review and a contributor to the New York Times, cautions, "We shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater." He cites former journalist Lisa Guernsey's Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five (Basic Bks., 2007) as an example of how parents can shrewdly navigate a TV, DVD, and video game market.

One of the biggest challenges, however, remains getting these devices into the hands of every child, Buckleitner admits. Although it's still unclear whether ereaders will become as ubiquitous as cellphones, a digital divide is inevitable over time. That's why Buckleitner firmly believes "we need free, public access to these devices"—and that's where libraries come in.

In the session "The School Library Without Walls: New Content, New Collections," Joyce Valenza (right), an SLJ blogger and media specialist at Pennsylvania's Springfield Township High School, says despite the fact that ereader choices are confusing and overwhelming, digital books are a huge plus for her students: they provide new opportunities to support the curriculum, they're portable, they offer instant gratification, they have bookmarking, highlighting, and annotating features—and they lighten the load of heavy backpacks.

But at the same time, Valenza, author of Power Tools, Power Research Tools and Power Tools Recharged (ALA Editions, 2004), is frustrated with everything from the difficulty in cataloging ebooks to the hassle involved in trying to figure out which device plays what. Plus, no really helpful school or library model has emerged for distribution.

Some of her other concerns: Will the future of ebooks be vendor and/or platform-driven? And will librarians have any voice at all in how it all shakes out?

Todd Brekus (left), president of Capstone Publishers' Digital Solutions and Erin Sullivan (right), a product manager at Gale, say yes to the latter.

"Vendors don't do it alone," Brekus says, explaining that, for example, his company interviewed hundreds of librarians before launching its PebbleGo Pre-K-3 database.

However, there are still ways to improve, he adds. For one, his company understands that libraries want unlimited access to digital books, audio that's recorded by lively professional actors, and more content to help personalize learning. "This is a great opportunity to transform not just the medium but the library so it's not bound to a physical space," Brekus adds. "Libraries can focus on this by using new digital tools."

How does Capstone know its ebooks are working? Based on figures from Capstone Interactive Library, in Charleston County, SC, 72 schools ordered their ebooks and saw its circulation increase by 30 times, Brekus says. In Hillsborough County, FL, kids in 85 schools read 70,000 ebooks in two months. And students from 42 schools there read 160,000 ebooks during summer reading camp, says Brekus.

At the same time, historian, author, and SLJ blogger Marc Aronson (left) cautions that amid this sprawl of ereaders and delivery systems and the wave of ebooks and digital apps, educators and users need to clearly define their needs.

"We the creators, and users, and readers are being overwhelmed," he says. "We have to define what we want-not just what is possible-but what would improve the experience of a child, an author, and a teacher."

The virtual summit drew more than 2,500 registrants, including vendors, and 2,130 live show attendees, who spent an average of 5.5 hours watching or listening.

For more summit coverage, visit:

Survey Results

Google Books Project.

Keynote: R. David Lankes

This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.

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