RUNNING HEAD: EXPANDING SCHOOL LIBRARY COLLECTION 1

Expanding a School Library Collection with Ebooks

Sharon Nicholls

Field Experience

ETEC 580

Professor Rhone Parris

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Introduction

For my fieldwork and ethnographic study, I had the pleasure of working with Jimna

Carbone at Franklin High School. After several interviews, I learned that Jimna’s library, while

a vibrant space for study and learning, lacked some resources that could expand her collection

and draw in a larger pool of students. The group I will be discussing are students at Franklin

High School, a low-income area in Highland Park, CA. The students that I surveyed were 11th

and 12th graders, primarily Latino/Latina or of Latino background. I surveyed both male and

female students about their use and knowledge of ebooks and audiobooks.

School libraries across Los Angeles Unified School District have been responsible for

developing a collection of high quality literature that includes picture books ,novels, and

informational books in order to support student curriculum and nurture a love of reading. The

use of technology has had a huge impact on libraries, yet school librarians have met the

challenge in many ways such as providing access to digital databases and electronic material,

automating library collections, and developing school library websites in order to maintain a

digital presence and providing access to library information.

While many digital advances have been made in school libraries, many teacher librarians

including myself and Jimna still rely on traditional strategies to promote reading and literacy

such as book displays, book talks, and book clubs. Clearly, technology is what students go to

after school hours, so it is important to explore how new technologies such as ebooks could

support the objective of motivating students to read.

Digitizing a collection presents new challenges to teacher librarians that must find ways

to expand their collections to include ebooks. They must also manage and circulate the items,
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while having to gain new technological skills along the way. School librarians are under

growing pressure to connect teaching and reading goals goals with a digital world. Using current

professional literature and evidence from a survey administered with students from FHS, this

paper explores the issues around developing and building an e-book collection for school library

programs and the challenges facing teacher librarians as they embark on this journey.

Assumptions

When I began this study, Jimna and I did not know what to expect from students. I had

done research in my ETEC Program at Cal State University, Long Beach on the digital divide at

my own library, Hollenbeck Middle School. I learned that while many students now have more

access than ever to technology, oftentimes they are using technology for social media and

gaming purposes, rather than for reading books or other academic pursuits. I expected to find a

similar situation at Franklin High School. However, the current body of scholarly literature

pertaining to ebooks assert that students are attracted to reading on electronic devices.

Ethnographic Methods and Findings

I interviewed Jimna Carbone about her library. She shared that she has done many

activities with students to promote reading. However, she has not tried reaching out to students

that enjoy using their electronic devices to read. In order to learn if students are truly receptive

and interested in participating in a digital program, I created a Google Form and input questions.

I was able to administer the survey with 2 different classes of juniors and seniors.

Students seemed excited at the prospect of the library expanding to ebooks. I found that

47% of the students I surveyed at Franklin High School had used ebooks before. But most of
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those students, 69% of the group had only used an ebook once. While their experience with

ebooks is limited, I found that 89% of the juniors and seniors I surveyed stated that they would

be interested in checking ebooks out if they were available in the collection. I wondered about

technological parameters to reading with a required device, but found that over 95% of students

at FHS do have access to device that they can use to read an ebook.

I also researched two vendors that come highly recommended from ILTSS ( Integrated

Library and Textbook Support Services) Permabound and Follett. I emailed Tim Pert from

Permabound, the vendor I usually work with for my library in order to start my investigation into

ebooks. He explained that currently Permabound is undergoing an LAUSD Unified Digital

Instructional Procurement Plan (UDIPP) approval process for digital materials. Until

Permabound receives the formal UDIPP approval they cannot access the LA student information

system required for students to easily access ebooks and digital audiobooks. He suggested that

we check with Overdrive regarding these digital materials.

I proceeded to call Follett and spoke to a representative for my school. She explained that

she did not know very much about how ebooks and audiobooks are purchased for schools. She

seemed to think that students could check out books through Destiny, but was not very sure. She

let me know that she would pass on my information to another sales representative. Several days

later, a different Follett representative emailed me and informed me that Titlewave is their online

ordering tool for Follett School Solutions.

I also posted a query on my LAUSD Teacher Librarian Schoology group about teacher

librarian experience with ebooks. I received one response from a teacher librarian named Mrs.

Williams. She explained that she provides ebooks to her student through Follett and that it is is

fairly easy if you are ordering e-books from Follett using Titlewave. You do it just as you
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would order print books. Follett will send you an email with the MARC records information and

instructions and then you put in a ticket to ITD to load your MARC records into Destiny for your

school. She also mentioned that librarians can get a bundle of 10 free multi-access ebooks from

ABDO Digital Bookshelf as long as you open an account with them and promise to order books

from them in the future. I went to their website and saw that you can get a bundle of multi-

access ebooks for grades 4-8. They will send you information with step by step instructions on

how to set up access and how to load it into Destiny's OPAC. Mrs. Williams did not load them

into Destiny. Instead she explained that she has a separate ABDO Digital icon on her library's

web page right next to the Destiny icon and students can search ebooks in ABDO from there.

The only problem that I noted about the ABDO selection of free books is that they are mostly

nonfiction and there are no fiction books.

What are e-books?

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, an e-book is “a book composed in or

converted to digital format for display on a computer screen or handheld device.” (Merriam-

Webster, 2018). They can be originally published in print and then digitized or they can be

written directly for the digital market. In order to read an e-book, readers need access to a cell

phone, computer, or an e-reader (Nook, Amazon Kindle, iPad, Kobo, etc). Circulation of e-books

has grown over the years in public libraries.

Usage of Ebooks

Research by Leverkus and Acedo assert that over 90% of public libraries offer ebooks

and one third of those that do not offer e-books as an option plan on adding these to their
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collection soon. Adults aged 35-44 are the largest group of ebook readers followed by those

aged 45-54. However, the demographic group with the greatest increase over the past year has

been young adults and teens. (2013) While ebooks grow in popularity at public libraries, school

library ebook adoptions are growing at a much slower rate. Studies show that in 2011, 33% of

school libraries offered ebooks in their collection and by 2012, 40% of school libraries offer

ebooks. This percentage shows a much slower growth compared to the greater growth rate seen

in public libraries. It is important to note that circulation data can be uncertain because there are

materials that are accessed online and not downloaded. These items may be considered to be in

circulation. In addition, multiple users can access materials simultaneously skewing the data so

it is essential to use online-only statistics (available from vendors) used with circulation

statistics.

Ebooks can be used in classrooms in many ways. They can be used for recreational

reading and for enhanced non-fiction research, digital book clubs, and interactive read alouds.

They are great for encouraging struggling and reluctant readers allowing readers to manipulate

print size, font, and margins. Users can make large blocks of text more manageable.

Benefits and limitations of ebooks

Some advocates for ebooks assert they are less expensive to produce and to buy with

many free titles available. They are more environmentally friendly than print books and can be

updated and revised more easily. In addition, they have multimedia features that can improve

the reading experience, especially for reluctant readers. Students have greater access to the

collection if they want to check out books after school hours and with multiple-user availability,

many copies of the same book can be made available avoiding hold times for popular titles.
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Also, e-text (ability to manipulate font) can provide students with learning disabilities helpful

accommodations.

While all the above is true, budgetary concerns are still the number one reason librarians

say they don’t expand their collection. Another concern is that they still lack a certain range of

popular titles that students request. According to Doiran, school librarians raise questions about

equitable access and points to problems such as the size and quality of the screen, resistance to

reading on a screen as opposed to print book, and charging issues.

Conclusions

There is little doubt that ebooks will continue to grow in influence and availability.

School librarians cannot hold onto romantic ideas about books in print if they want to continue to

serve students and promote reading in their libraries. While many students still use books in

print, it is also important to expand collections to include digital material and embrace new

technologies.
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References

Doiran, R. (2011, June 21). School libraries and resource centres section. In IFLA 2011.
Retrieved from www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/143-doiron-en.pdf

Librarians, A. A., Leverkus, C., & Acedo, S. (2013). Ebooks and the School Library Program: A
Practical Guide for the School Librarian.

Moyer, J. E. (2012). Audiobooks and E-books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(4), 340-
354. doi:10.5860/rusq.51n4.340

Webster, N. (1963). Ebook. In New Collegiate Dictionary. A Merriam-Webster. Springfield,

MA: G. & C. Merriam.

Appendix A

Questions Used in Survey

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● Have you ever used an ebook?

● Have you ever used an audiobook?
● If you have used an ebook, how many times?
● If you have used an audiobook, how many times?
● If FHS had ebooks and audiobooks in the collection, would you be interested in checking
them out?
● Do you prefer ebooks or books in print?
● Do you prefer audiobooks or books in print?
● Please explain you prefer to read ebooks, audiobooks, or books in print.
● If you found an ebook/audiobook you wanted, what device would you read it on?
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