The Portage Exchange Club welcomed Portage Library branch manager Anne Wood to its December 5 breakfast meeting. Wood has been in the library system for ten years and at the Portage Branch since 2010.
“I love talking about the library! It never gets old,” she said.
Wood focused on two aspects of the library in this most recent visit: e-books and commonly asked questions.
Since October, the library has offered e-books for use on devices such as the Nook Color or Kindle Fire. They presently have 300 titles purchased from Baker and Taylor, which cost the library about $15,000. The two drawbacks to the e-books is that, like printed books, only one person can access a particular title at a time and after 26 downloads, the publisher removes it from the library’s catalog and they must purchase it again. This also reflects the use of print books, which have to be withdrawn from the collection after a certain number of withdrawals because of wear and tear.
Wood plans to set up a class for people who wish to learn to use e-books.
Some of the commonly asked questions and the answered she shared were:
- Are you worried about libraries becoming obsolete? No, we offer so many services to our residents that we will always be needed. We just have to be sure to change with the times and supply what the people need. Last month over 1000 people logged into the Portage Library. We help with job applications, DMV license renewals, taxes as well as checking out books.
- Will computers take over for books? Maybe eventually, but not in my lifetime. Studies have shown that learning from a printed page differs from learning from a screen, but that may change with the next generations.
- Do you have Consumer Reports? Yes, both in print and online.
- I don’t know what to read next. How do I find a good book? One way is to ask your librarian for a bookmark with books in the genre you like.
- What happens to books people donate to the library? Moldy, damaged or mildewed books have to be discarded. If a book is in good shape, it may be put into the library’s collection. If it is not as good as the copy already in the collection, it may be sent to another branch or given to the Friends of the Library. They have three big sales annually and donate $20,000 - $25,000 to the library. This money helps buy things not allocated in the budget.