by Barbara Buckley
I’m new to ordering e-books for adults for the Adams County Library System, having completed my first order in January. There are things I know and things I’m learning. I knew e-books were popular. Every month, new users are finding their way to our e-books. In 2018, check-outs totaled 28,830. Compare that with the 58,853 e-books that were borrowed in 2023! All it takes to check out an e-book is an Adams County Library System card and the cloudLibrary app. The books can be read on a phone, laptop or other digital device (just not on a basic Kindle due to limitations put in place by Amazon). We also belong to a consortium, cloudLink, which gives our patrons access to available e-books owned by other library systems. This happens behind the digital scenes of the cloudLibrary app and increases the number of available e-books.
Appeal to our library users, quality of the work, and cost are primary considerations when I purchase e-books. Which I typically do each Friday for those of you who follow such things closely and jump at the chance to check out the items on our “new shelf.” I look for books from across the genres to satisfy the variety of tastes of our library users. These include historical fiction, romance, and mystery, to name a few. I keep in mind the habits of our readers, such as the knowledge that historical fiction and mystery/suspense books are beloved genres in Adams County. I read reviews in professional journals and inspect cloudLibrary’s “Top New Releases.” By the way, the two e-books with the most appeal in Adams County so far this year, as indicated by the most hold requests, are The Women by Kristin Hannah, a historical fiction novel about a woman who joins the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War, and First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, a suspense/thriller set in contemporary times.
Each digital copy is purchased and borrowed separately, just like a printed book. One might think a library purchases the rights to a digital copy, which could be used by many people at once since it is digital, but that is not how it works. Publishers put parameters around use, and one of these is that a library purchases single copies and they can be checked out to one person at a time.
One difference between ordering e-books and printed books is that each e-book title comes with a publisher-assigned ownership length. When we buy a printed book, we choose how long we keep it. E-books, however, have the attached stipulation of ownership 1 year after purchase, 2 years after purchase, 26 checkouts, or perpetual. This, along with price, has to be considered. How much should be paid for a book we will only own for 1 year? Do we buy it again after the year expires? Maybe. This week I repurchased the 2022 best seller Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It continues to be requested and regularly checked out, so at under $30 it is well worth the cost. (And after finally reading it over the weekend, I must say I recommend it!).
Happy reading, and don’t forget that if you would like to start borrowing e-books and need any help, call or bring your device to any ACLS branch, and we will be happy to help you go digital!
Barbara Buckley is Branch Manager at the Harbaugh-Thomas Library, Biglerville, part of the Adams County Library System.