Would patrons really pay for the right to borrow ebooks? In the year since Freading launched, that answered would appear to be yes. The convenience alone might be enough to spur some patrons to pay for a digital edition that they can drive to the library to borrow for free in print. And the knowledge that this nominal fee affords their own libraries the opportunity to continue offering titles for lending can be enough of an incentive for patrons who want to show their support of reading.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Would patrons really pay for the right to borrow ebooks? In the year since Freading launched, that answered would appear to be yes. The convenience alone might be enough to spur some patrons to pay for a digital edition that they can drive to the library to borrow for free in print. And the knowledge that this nominal fee affords their own libraries the opportunity to continue offering titles for lending can be enough of an incentive for patrons who want to show their support of reading.
