chool libraries are filled with traditional paper
books—great resources for the students who take
the time to go into the library, locate the book on the
shelf, leaf through it to see if it has potential to provide
the information they need, and then check it out to
spend serious time with it.
But put that way, it sounds like a lot of work to ac-
cess a library book, doesn’t it? Maybe more than most
of today’s fast-moving, digitally savvy kids are will-
ing to do.
The library’s resources also offer teachers an abun-
dance of options to enhance daily classroom lessons. Yet
with all that teachers are expected to do each day just
to present the core curriculum, it is becoming increas-
ingly difficult to spend any amount of time in the li-
brary looking for additional resources.
Enter ebooks into the equation, and you’ll discover
an entirely different result. When electronic versions
of books in the library are made available to students
and teachers via the internet, an array of new teach-
ing and learning possibilities unfolds.
The potential of ebooks in schools can be forecast by
the sheer popularity of ebooks in society in general. Over
the last 5 years, ebooks are the only book publishing seg-
ment consistently showing double-digit sales increases.
The Association of American Publishers’ (AAP) 2007 “S1
Report” reveals that sales of ebooks have enjoyed a com-
pounded growth rate of 55.7% since 2002. And there’s no
sign of a slowdown. AAP statistics show that the sales of
ebooks are continuing to grow at a staggering rate—up
by 77.8% for the month of September 2008 ($5.1 million),
reflecting an increase of 55.2 percent for the year.
Why should librarians and other educators jump
on this bandwagon? Twenty-first-century school li-
braries really need to do more than inventory infor-
mation for students. They need to provide the tools
and resources students need to develop technology
and information literacy.
>
January/February 2009 MULTIMEDIA & INTERNET@SCHOOLS 27
TECHNOLOGY @ SCHOOLS

Ebooks move school libraries into the 21st century Struggling readers will also benefit from built-in
for a few very simple reasons: ebook functions, including zoom tools to make text big-
I Ebooks provide instant access to library books. ger for easier reading, read-aloud options, keyword
I They bring lessons to life. search, and an expandable dictionary to look up unfa-
I They engage struggling readers. miliar words instantly.
I They connect technology and learning.
21ST-CENTURY LEARNERS
24/7 ACCESS INCREASES OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGE WITH TECHNOLOGY
ONLINE LEARNING, READING, AND RESEARCH Today’s students have grown up surrounded by tech-
Think of the student who waits till the last minute nology and are often bored by traditional classroom ac-
to complete a research assignment. He needs one last tivities. Studies have shown that even students who say
resource to be able to turn it in on time. With ebooks in they don’t enjoy reading find it to be more enjoyable
your library, he can log on to your catalog, search and when reading an ebook. Whether students are reading
preview sources, then down- a traditional book or an
load the appropriate source, ebook, reading is reading,
all from home, even in the right? Getting nonreaders to
middle of the night before read by offering ebook alter-
the assignment is due!
When electronic versions of books natives is reason alone to add
Once an ebook is down- in the library are made available ebooks to your library.
loaded to the user’s comput- For high school students
er, it is checked out for the to students and teachers via the who have hectic schedules,
same period of time as the ebooks make researching
traditional book, and users
internet, an array of new teaching and writing assignments
can make notes and often and learning possibilities unfolds. easier. There’s no need to
copy, paste, or print sections. arrange to get to school ear-
That means teachers and ly or stay late to find re-
students can locate the books source materials in the li-
they want and check them brary. They can access the
out whenever the mood strikes. Reading and learning materials from home, download them to a home com-
expands beyond the classroom and school hours. puter, highlight sections, and take notes right in the
books while they read.
VISUAL EXAMPLES OF CLASSROOM LESSONS
More and more schools are employing classroom pro- GETTING STARTED
jectors and interactive whiteboards. In fact, one study School libraries have a variety of options when it
suggests that one of every seven classrooms in the comes to adding ebooks to their collections. Several
world will feature an interactive whiteboard by 2011. companies such as NetLibrary (www.netlibrary.com)
But what content are they using with these tools? When and ebrary (www.ebrary.com) offer subscription servic-
they download an ebook and project it in front of the es to allow users to access their ebook catalogs on de-
class, they can put these valuable tools to work: mand. Other companies such as Follett Library Re-
I Teaching grammar and diagramming sentence sources (www.flr.follett.com) sell ebook titles to schools
structure with a page from a classic novel using the same procedures as traditional books. The
I Extracting the meaning of sections of company offers more than 45,000 ebook versions of
Shakespeare in front of the class while students graphic novels, big picture books, young adult titles,
follow along with their own texts reference books, nonfiction selections, and more. In ad-
I Labeling the anatomy of a cell to prep students dition, libraries can purchase reference materials, such
for the next day’s lab as Gale Virtual Reference Library (www.gale.cengage
I Presenting interactive guided reading lessons .com/gvrl), that actually allow reference materials to
with a big book in front of the whole class circulate to multiple users at once, whether the ebook
is accessed from school or home.
STRUGGLING READERS HAVE MORE CHOICES Whatever way you select to build your state-of-the-
Students who need extra help reading are often un- art digital collection, ebooks add a new dimension of
comfortable choosing books at their own reading level. technology-driven learning to your school.
Ebooks eliminate these concerns. Students can choose
appropriate books and read them on the computer, and
their peers are none the wiser. Now, rather than strug- Deborah McKenzie is an ebooks product manager for
gling through books that create frustrations, students Follett Digital Resources (www.fdr.follett.com). She
can continue to enjoy reading success and progress. can be reached at dmckenzie@fdr.follett.com. I

28 www.mmischools.com
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