Yesterday a patron called looking for Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich. She was in the process of listening to the book with our book on tape when the last tape decided to fail. When she called she was in the car en route eventually to the library. I told her to see me when she arrived and that I would place a hold on the title for her, or tell her where she could go to get the item herself.
After we disconnected I had the idea to check Listen Illinois, the books on MP3 program in which we’re participating. Lo and behold, the title in need was available, as was an MP3 player. I created a book basket for the patron, downloaded the title and put it onto the player. When she arrived she immediatly inquired if I was able to find the book nearby. She was anxious to complete the story. I responded that I was able to do better than that, told her that I had it on an MP3 player for her, and explained about the program.
“Boy, will my son be proud of me,” she exclaimed. She also commented that she enjoyed the small size of the Audible Otis player.
I was pleased with the whole exchange and I’m going to make it a point to find more of these “introductory moments”* where I haven’t really looked before.
*This concept is essentially like the concept of the teachable moment except nothing really is taught. In place, services or technologies (in this case library related) are introduced.
Have you ever said something that you wish you could take back? That’s how I think many libraries feel about the whole eBook fiasco. Certainly that issue doesn’t need to be rehashed here, but I do want to mention an impact that I percieve it has had on technology in libraries. Namely, I think that libraries are slightly nervous to stick their necks out again.
Perhaps we can use the eBook event to learn about how we should think about acquiring new technologies. Wouldn’t you agree that eBooks were largely pushed by the people selling them? It wasn’t the case that readers were clammering for them. In fact, the late 90s incarnation of eBook readers were met with resistance from readers. People, including many librarians, hated them. Sure, libraries should guide their patrons through the process of exploring new technologies, but shouldn’t (and cannot successfully) force technologies. Think here of OPACs and many older users. They are still talking about not having the card catalog. This is what happens when we try to mandate the use of technologies.
Libraries cannot, however, be blind to present or upcoming consumer driven trends in technology. The mp3 (or other similar digital audio formats*) certainly falls within this category. EBook readers were never heavily featured in the adverts from every consumer electronics store. There were some, but nowhere near how mp3 players are being featured. People are using this technology. The audiobook (in tape and CD format) is already proven as viable and necessary format for libraries to circulate.
These facts indicate that exploring books on mp3 as a format isn’t that risky. Certainly the technology will mature a bit more, but the biggest changes will be the pricing, DRM, circulation, and download models that are available to libraries.
If you think your administration might be resistant to the idea of books on mp3 at your library, and you think that your community would use the format, perhaps some of these thoughts can help you convince them otherwise.
**For instance: .wav, .aac, .ogg, .wma, .shn, .ape. It is not crucial to know how these all differ, but it is important to realize that an mp3 file extention (.mp3) isn’t the only type of digitial audio format going around.
A staff member here finally got her hands on one of our MP3 players after having to wait a few weeks. Upon checking it out she asked, “How long can I have this for? Two weeks?” She was concerned about finishing the book she had on the player. Funny thing is that I saw her the next day and she was nearly done with the book. She said it had made walking, gardening, and cleaning very enjoyable. I loaded another title on the player immediately. Who knows? She might listen to 5 (or more) books during her 2 week period.
With any luck she’ll mention her zeal for books on mp3 to the knitting club next thursday and they’ll all place holds. Getting staff acquainted with new technoligies and training them to use it is good for a number of reasons. Patron questions are more easily fielded, for one. Also, at smaller libraries, or any library where employees live in the community, staff are great marketers. If they are excited about books on mp3 or wireless in the library, they’ll spread the word to their friends and neighbors. Rick here (my own personal zen reference guru) saw two ‘evangelists’ speak at PLA (for MSFT and Real), so why can’t we have them too? Well, besides the fact that it is a creepy title.
I can see it now: I’ll be riding my bike through town, proclaming the joys of the library. I went to the library and I saw the light. I’ve been SAVED! No more will I be burdened by my T-Mobile iniquties at Starbucks, no longer will I fruitlessly caress my keyboard calling upon google, no more will I be enchained by 14 cassettes for an audiobook. I have been freed by the library!
Although the vast majority of comments about our books on mp3 program have been positive, we did get a negative one today. A patron thought the quality of sound coming from the Audible Otis wasn’t very good. My suspicion is that the volume on the player was set low, forcing the car radio’s volume to be high. I tested this out, and it indeed sounded poor.
There is a statement about this on the handout circulated in the package, but one mustn’t have made it in there for this circ.
I’m not sweating it. Can’t please everyone.
A librarian in Vermont sent me an email asking what boxes we’re using to circulate our Audible Otis players. They currently are using some tough (nylon?) bags that aren’t sturdy enough for the book drop, even a small one.
We use the Accessory Box from one of my favourites, the Container Store. They are 7.5” in depth, 6.6” in width ,and 3.625” high. Even though they would be sturdy enough for a book drop, the lip popping off is a concern, as would be the player flopping around. We’ve chosen to make it a “no book drop” item. $5 fine if the rule isn’t followed.
The library in Vermont has a slot-in-the-door type of return, so they need something slim. I don’t think these boxes will work. Any ideas?
We had an Adult Services meeting today, and some very interesting thoughts about technology in libraries were raised. When I was giving an update about ListenIllinois someone inquired whether patrons could download books onto their own mp3 players. I replied that it wasn’t possible yet, but that it will (hopefully) be available soon, and that this would be ideal. Another staff member came back with, “Yeah, imagine if patrons had to check out a CD player every time they wanted to check out a CD!” That was exciting for me to hear.
One of the coolest things our library is doing now is circulating books on mp3 players. Through the collaberative program Listen Illinois we have access to many, many titles. Eventually 1800, I’m told. There are new books, fiction and nonfiction, mysteries, kids books, classics, and more. You can go to the site and browse for yourself.
Jenny did most of the hard work setting up this project, and the few member libraries that chose to participate are reaping the rewards. To get going, all I need to do was the following:
-attend an instructional session on how to load software on to computers, register the players, etc…
-get some small plastic boxes for the circulating package ($3 @ The Container Store)
-Make some promotional materials
-Get Tech Services to slap some stickers on the players
After that were were ready to go, except for that one small factor: staff. I had trained 2 people in the library way before we went live, and they had forgotten quite a bit. I made sure the docs I drew up were readily available and retrained them. Er, one of them. (I’d better get on that.)
We made an announcement on the website (still need something permanent), made an announcement in the newsletter, and got the local paper to write write a story. This is an exciting new offering, and they were happy to write a column about it. Whether it be my movie group, or this book on mp3 program, I’ve found getting a library service into the local paper is key. Besides this, I made a poster to be housed by the other audiobooks. I’m contented, for now, with the amount of attention that has come to the project. As I type this there are 6 holds on the players, and they’ve been in circulation to various patrons since the project went live. Every repeat user I’ve spoken with about the project has been tremendously excited about the program, and impressed with the library. These people will be the main users of the mp3 players. Maybe they will tell their friends, but the library might have to wait for the commercial sector to push the format more before more people become interested. I’m not happy about it, but I think the reality is that the private sector has more influence than us.
The overall reception amongst the staff was positive. Because it would be a fairly large scale effort, I have not yet trained Circ staff to do anything with the program. For now, this is handled by Reference, mainly me. If I could have two or three hours with the Circ and Reference people, they would have no problem learning. And as trite as it may seem, I think role playing might be very useful for them. I suppose I would first demonstrate downloading titles, and putting them on the players. Next they would be walked through the process, and lastly they would try it themselves. The problem is that there are many part timers who might not be asked to do this in a real situations for months. Would they be able to recall the process?
It is people who have already made mp3 players an integral part of their lives that libraries are most likely to lose to the world of fun, glitzy, and useful technology. We need to reel them back in to our world or rich content.
