Publishers and eBook lending

On February 9, 2012, Penguin Publishing announced that they were ending their contract with Overdrive, our Library eBook vendor. No new titles published by Penguin will be available for libraries to purchase or license. Access to eBooks already in our collection will continue for EPUB titles, but anything previously available in Kindle format will no longer be available.

This is just the latest publisher to cut off library lending for their titles. Hachette, Macmillian, Simon & Schuster and Brilliance Audio do not sell or license to libraries either. The American Library Association has spoken with representatives of the publishing industry about eBooks and eBook lending, but progress has been limited.

So if you don't find something in our eBook collection, we may not be able to get it for you.

This is incredibly disappointing for libraries and library patrons.

Internet Lab upgrade underway...

We are installing new PC Reservation software in our Internet labs at the Central Library this week. Parts of the Adult lab are down through Thursday, but the good news is that we will be able to offer PRINTING again! Yay!

We went through an awful 3 months where our printing went down due to a virus attack and ongoing problems with our printing software interface. I know how frustrated our library patrons were - we had this weird work around that we cobbled together where you had to save things to a flash drive, go to the Children's department, etc..

I know it was driving everyone crazy - our staff, members of the public, everyone. I know how much I hated the situation, so I can only imagine how awful it was for people who depend on our system and computers.

I am so EXCITED that we are able to get this fixed - the change took us a while, but I know that the changes we are making ARE GOOD ONES. Printing will be easier, it will be cheaper and it will be better. (Prints and copies will be 15 cents for BW, 50 cents for color) Time management on the computers will be easier, for everyone, and the new software is much more flexible and robust, so we should have greater stability in our lab. ALL GOOD.

I just want to say thank you to everyone for their patience - the wait is almost over. Just a few more days...

Bad news from Sacramento today

I just heard that Governor Brown announced that the first Tier of the Trigger Bill cuts will go into effect January 1. This is REALLY bad news for libraries. This will completely defund the Public Library Fund, Cooperative Systems and Support for Literacy Services in the State. All together, Library funding was at a low point of $15 million for all of these services, across the state. The elimination of this small amount of State support puts a further $16 million in Federal funds at risk.

What does this mean for Huntington Beach? It means that we lose grant support for our active and vital Literacy programs. We have less money to buy books and to support general library operations. We have less money to support interlibrary loan. And we will have fewer grant opportunities specifically for libraries, so it will be harder to find additional support for what we do. The elimination of State funding for public libraries will make it harder for all our residents to find what they need, and to get the services they need.

Libraries are one of the best things that government does, and the loss of State support hits hard.

A Kickstarter for Libraries?

This past week, I was participating in a strategic planning session for a Library Agency called Califa -

It was a great session, and we came away from the meeting with some really good ideas and a good sense of direction.

In the course of the day, one of my colleagues mentioned this interesting web site called Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a crowdsourcing, fundraising web site - you have an idea for a project, you know how much it costs, so how do you get the funding? Kickstarter gives you a platform to share your idea and ask for support. If people like your idea, they give you money within a timeframe. It is a really interesting web site - many of the projects listed are creative - documentaries or short films, interesting inventions, and lots more. (There is even a project for chocolate 20 sided dice - though I can't imagine that the dice would last very long!)

But it does get you thinking -

Fundraising can be really tough right now. There are so many worthy causes, and so many needs to be met. Where do you put your money? Kickstarter is definitely an option, that let's you see a wide range of worthy projects. As a Library that is looking to raise money and support, I really like the idea of having a service where you could test ideas for new services or products, and see if there was any support for the idea.

The idea of a Kickstarter for libraries came up at the planning session, and I think that is a terrific idea. I can see this working for all kinds of things...

EBooks, Tablets and EReaders, oh my!

This week, the Library offered our first class on EBooks and EReaders for the public. With the holidays approaching and all the buzz about the IPad, the new Kindle Fire and all the other tablets and readers out there, we thought it would be a good time to offer an introduction and to let people know about our EBooks.

We thought we should probably cover the current market, just so everyone knows a bit about what is out there. Then we moved into the resources that we have available for the various gadgets. We rounded out the class with a brief demonstration of how to check out a book for a Kindle and how to check out a book on an IPad.

The NOOK is harder to demonstrate, for a variety of reasons, so we provided links and resources online for participants to review later. (We are going to explore how we can do more for our local Nook users - so stay tuned for more offerings.)

We are offering the second session of our EBook introduction on Thursday, December 8 at 5 PM in the Talbert Room at the Library, and I am looking forward to another interesting session. If you are interested in EBooks, EReaders and what the library has, stop by.

It has been awhile...

I am sorry that I haven't been around for awhile - we were finishing up our fiscal year and trying to get a number of technology projects underway. Still things to do, but we have laid some important ground work so far.

We are working on replacing computers here at the library. This sounds like a simple project, but you would be surprised. We have LOTS of computers at the library. And we are depending on them more and more to help you. So when we have older machines, or machines that are experiencing trouble, it really disrupts what we can do for you, our library patrons.

The replacement will help us sustain services, and will give us a more stable platform for launching any new services. With the technology market changing at an exponential rate, we are all testing our resiliency muscles.

And how are we doing this with all the budget reductions you may ask? We are getting support from our Friends and the Information Systems Department of the City. Our Friends are absolutely amazing and their support really makes a difference. And our Information Systems Department, which works behind the scenes, really does incredible things for us as well. They are dedicated professionals that understand how important technology is to the modern library, and what a difference it makes to all the residents of Huntington Beach.

So you may be seeing a few new pieces of equipment in the building over the next few months... hopefully sooner rather than later!

Kindle Books are here!

Yes, I am pleased to report that our Kindle eBooks are here!

Check our website, www.hbpl.org for more information.