It’s a brave new world where “Brave New World” is available in both digital and old-fashioned book form.
“E-books aren’t changing the library’s mission but rather influencing the ways we can deliver our mission,” said Anne Thornton, director of reference and research services at the New York Public Library, which covers the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.
“You have to respond to what your patrons want,” noted Michael Santangelo, who oversees almost 13,000 titles available online as curator of the electronic book collection at the Brooklyn Public Library.
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was the most popular e-book last month at the New York Public Library, while Harlequin titles like “In Bed with the Duke” and “The Innocents Surrender” were among the favorites at the Brooklyn Public Library. Most e-books are checked out in the evenings, when most brick-and-mortar libraries are closed.
The New York Public Library offers 33,000 e-books, compared with roughly 4.8 million paper books. But the nation’s largest public library and the BPL are helping write the book on the future of reading in the age of the iPad and Kindle. “I would not have thought, 10 years ago, that I would be comfortable with reading digital books,” said Thornton.
She said e-book reader technology has advanced enough to pass her test of “the three B’s” – beach, bath and bed.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2010/07/11/2010-07-11_check_it_out_or_click_it_out_from_library.html#ixzz0tTdudYl0
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