More School Libraries Offer Ebooks; Increased Demand, Rise in Circulation

Via Scoop.it – Student Learning through School Libraries

“Despite severe budget constraints, the number of school libraries offering ebooks is on the rise-and a majority of media specialists plan to add digital books to their collections over the next two years, says a new study by School Library Journal and Library Journal. The 90-page report, “Ebooks the New Normal: Ebook Penetration & Use in U.S. School (K-12) Libraries” follows last year’s findings that school libraries still lagged behind public and academic libraries in terms of ebook purchases-but that’s slowly beginning to change. A little less than half (44 percent) of our nation’s school libraries offer ebooks, up from 33 percent last year. And the higher the grade, the more likely students found digital books in their libraries, with 71 percent of high school libraries, 55 percent of middle schools, and 35 percent of elementary schools currently offering them.” This report also identifies some challenges such as “Getting the word out about ebook collections is key… Shockingly, the top obstacles to ebook consumption are a lack of awareness that they’re available, followed by limited access to ereading devices, and a lack of training on how to use them.”
Show original