Does anyone offer ebooks in their church library? I would like to do this, but have no idea where to start. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
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If you have a newsletter, perhaps you could let your patrons know about the free ebooks they can download to their own ereaders. www.christianbook.com has a list of 30 to 40 free books. You can then go to the ebook site of your choice and download them. Several publishers offer newsletters which they send periodically of available free ebooks such as :
We are wanting to do the same thing; e-books for rent. I don't know how to purchase the ebooks, or how to process it on our website. Have you learned more?
1) We did talk to Overdrive about participation by non-church members. While I can't say exactly how they look at this, I got the sense that as long as the non-members were a small percentage, it would be no problem. They realize we can't control this completely.
2) Currently Overdrive is permitting just the "one title-one reader at a time" check-out process. They indicated this was a limitation imposed by the publishers. When the publishers permit it, Overdrive is ready to manage "single title-multiple reader" check-out. This will probably mean, however, that a title purchase will be for a total number of check-outs instead of unlimited. Most publishers still allow an unlimited number of check-outs so long as only one person has it at a time...like a print book.
If your consortium wants to provide a single title to multiple readers at a time, they will need to buy several copies of popular titles. I like this efficiency since, say, your six libraries would ordinarily buy 6 print copies of the book whereas the consortium might get by with only 3 or 4 eBook copies. Also, the consortium might order only 1 or 2 copies at first until it is determined how popular a title actually becomes. Add duplicate titles later as needed thereby avoiding unnecessary purchases.
I honestly don't know how responsive Overdrive will be just yet. On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to be on their "radar."
You might also start conversing with nearby church librarians to see what the interest is. Now that we have a cost, we can begin to strategize how best to pay for it. As some other posts have suggested, we will probably have to be pretty creative.
Deanna King > Buford CarterFebruary 23, 2012 19:49
I have looked at the site "Open Library" - still a bit confused, but it seems there are two collections, a Free ebook collection (mainly older titles) and also a "lending library" collection where newer titles ARE available, to be borrowed one at a time.
I have just signed up to try to borrow a book, so I will let you know when I get approved to do it. I did a search of Karen Kingsbury - only 1 title. John MacArthur - over 12 titles.
I took a look tonight and my guess is that unless they develop a separate "Christian" book section, it would be useless for church libaries. I'm still very concerned about the copyright issues - if they can scan the books page by page, these must be books past the copyright dates, which would make them older titles. In our church library we usually circulate (and most people come in for) the more recent titles. Our library is used almost exclusively by the laity - the pastoral staff have their own resources, so our collection is much less "academic" and we cater to the general congregation, which wants about half fiction and half nonfiction/children's items/DVDs. Most of what we currently circulate is still under copyright.
Replies
If you have a newsletter, perhaps you could let your patrons know about the free ebooks they can download to their own ereaders. www.christianbook.com has a list of 30 to 40 free books. You can then go to the ebook site of your choice and download them. Several publishers offer newsletters which they send periodically of available free ebooks such as :
http://www.tyndale.com/ebookextra/
http://www.dccebooks.com/
http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/bethanyhouse/ebook-specials-from-be...
Most title are only available free for a limited period.
I have been able to get several hundred free Christian ebooks over the last several years this way.
I am working on acquiring Overdrive for my church library, and just posted my report on my blog at: http://www.colleengreene.com/2014/01/14/investigating-overdrive-ebo...
Regards,
Colleen Greene
Systems Librarian, Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton
President, Evangelical Church Library Association, Southern California chapter
Member, Rose Drive Friends Church, Church Library Committee
I have thought about offering this feature to bring our library into the future. If you receive info, please pass it on to me.
Thanks
Carolyn
We are wanting to do the same thing; e-books for rent. I don't know how to purchase the ebooks, or how to process it on our website. Have you learned more?
1) We did talk to Overdrive about participation by non-church members. While I can't say exactly how they look at this, I got the sense that as long as the non-members were a small percentage, it would be no problem. They realize we can't control this completely.
2) Currently Overdrive is permitting just the "one title-one reader at a time" check-out process. They indicated this was a limitation imposed by the publishers. When the publishers permit it, Overdrive is ready to manage "single title-multiple reader" check-out. This will probably mean, however, that a title purchase will be for a total number of check-outs instead of unlimited. Most publishers still allow an unlimited number of check-outs so long as only one person has it at a time...like a print book.
If your consortium wants to provide a single title to multiple readers at a time, they will need to buy several copies of popular titles. I like this efficiency since, say, your six libraries would ordinarily buy 6 print copies of the book whereas the consortium might get by with only 3 or 4 eBook copies. Also, the consortium might order only 1 or 2 copies at first until it is determined how popular a title actually becomes. Add duplicate titles later as needed thereby avoiding unnecessary purchases.
I honestly don't know how responsive Overdrive will be just yet. On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to be on their "radar."
You might also start conversing with nearby church librarians to see what the interest is. Now that we have a cost, we can begin to strategize how best to pay for it. As some other posts have suggested, we will probably have to be pretty creative.
I came across a blog entry titled
Open Library offers libraries a third choice for eBooks
at
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/07/open-library-o...
that you might find interesting.
I have looked at the site "Open Library" - still a bit confused, but it seems there are two collections, a Free ebook collection (mainly older titles) and also a "lending library" collection where newer titles ARE available, to be borrowed one at a time.
I have just signed up to try to borrow a book, so I will let you know when I get approved to do it. I did a search of Karen Kingsbury - only 1 title. John MacArthur - over 12 titles.
I'll post some more after a day or two!
Could not reach this site.
I took a look tonight and my guess is that unless they develop a separate "Christian" book section, it would be useless for church libaries. I'm still very concerned about the copyright issues - if they can scan the books page by page, these must be books past the copyright dates, which would make them older titles. In our church library we usually circulate (and most people come in for) the more recent titles. Our library is used almost exclusively by the laity - the pastoral staff have their own resources, so our collection is much less "academic" and we cater to the general congregation, which wants about half fiction and half nonfiction/children's items/DVDs. Most of what we currently circulate is still under copyright.
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