On Friday, April 8th, I attended the Laconi session on eReaders and Libraries. During the session they discussed the different types of eReaders and how they work, how to use eReaders with Overdrive, and ideas for using eReaders in the library. One idea in particular that caught my attention was incorporating eReaders and ebooks into storytime sessions. They did a demonstration in which they hooked an ipad2 up to a projector and displayed an ebook on the projection screen. They read the book to us as one would in a storytime, with the ipad allowing them to simulate the actual turning of the book pages as they read.
It was absolutely awesome!!!
This program idea really got our wheels turing, and we were very excited to discuss it further to see if this was something that would work in our library and for our patrons. At the end of last summer we had a major leak in our YS supply room. About half of our big book collection was damaged and had to be removed from the collection. We recently received the budget to replace those items, however, many of the titles are out of print, and unfortunately there have not been many new titles made into big books we could purchase instead. We decided to approach our Library Director and share the program idea from Laconi with him. We talked to him about using some of our big book budget to purchase an ipad2 and some children’s ebooks from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. He loved the idea, and we have decided to test out the idea with our summer drop-in storytimes.
Our summer drop-in storytimes usually draw in a large group, and because of this we really need big books available so all patrons can see and engage in the session. Being able to project a book onto the screen would really enhance the experience for patrons, and ensure that all children could see and follow the story. Due to the size of these storytime sessions we usually have two librarians running the program, so while one person is at the projector in the back operating the ipad and ebook, the other will be at the front of the room reading the book and guiding and engaging the group with the book. When the book is completed, the person operating the ipad will turn the projector off, while the other transitions the group into the next activity.
What really excites me about trying out this new program is the number of books it will allow us to share with our storytime groups. With a larger group a normal size picture book is too small, and it makes it difficult for everyone to follow along and for the children to stay engaged with the story. Big books work great, but for some reason there are not many newer title available in big book format, so there is a small collection to choose from. There are many big books avaiable for older titles, but not titles that are necessarily ideal for the age group we are working with. Therefore, it sometimes feels like we are having to settle on certain titles for storytimes, rather than sharing ones we know the little ones would really love and get into.
Being able to download and project ebooks with the ipad2 will give us access to so many more books that will be appropriate for our storytimes. We will be able to download books from Overdrive or purchase them from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. We haven’t tried it yet, but we also subscribe to tumble books, so we may be able to pull up books from there as well. We will have so many more options avaiable to us, and they won’t be just big books, but really big books every patron will be able to see during storytime.
Of course some of us have our reservations. There are concerns over whether patrons will like this format, and if they might be upset we are presenting books to children in digital form rather than sharing the physical book. Some feel there will be children who will not be as engaged with this format, and may get distracted and not participate. Several people have expressed concerns with setup and operation of the ipad and projector, and whether it will be too much of a hassel to use. I agree that some of these issues may come up, but I am still very excited to try it out and see how it goes. I think it is an awesome idea that many of our patrons will be excited about as well.
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