EREADS in EWashington: Libraries to circulate eReaders

Exciting new opportunities are coming your way through NPL!  Below is the official press release; quickly to follow will be more details on how, who, and when.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 8, 2012

SE Washington rural libraries to circulate eBook readers 

Thanks to a recent grant award, library users in several southeastern Washington communities soon can bring home books on a lightweight eBook reader.

The Asotin County Library, Columbia County Rural Library District, Denny Ashby Library (Pomeroy), Neill Public Library (Pullman), Walla Walla Rural Library District and Whitman County Library are partnering to purchase NOOK Simple Touches, which will be preloaded with content that the libraries have selected and made available at those libraries.

Patrons may begin checking out the devices October 15^th.

"Once the eReaders arrive in our library this fall, our patrons will see, first-hand, just how easy they are to use and how many books these devices can hold at one time. There are many ways patrons can enjoy a book from their library, and e-reading is one of them,” said Joanna Bailey, director of the Neill Public Library in Pullman.

“Rural libraries strive to keep up with advances in technology. Providing eReaders and content to our patrons is a great way to do that. This service is going to be very popular,” said Kristie Kirkpatrick, director of the Colfax-based Whitman County Library.

“This will offer a great opportunity for library users in southeastern Washington to check out a NOOK from our library or another area library and experience reading books in a fun new way,” said Jennifer Ashby, director of the Asotin County Library in Clarkston.

The six libraries were awarded grants through Connecting Libraries through Resource Sharing, a federal program that encourages cooperation among public libraries in counties where interlocal agreements to share materials do not exist. 

“The grant’s purpose is to encourage rural libraries to make better use of taxpayers’ dollars by rotating and sharing their materials with each other,” said Carolyn Petersen, the State Library’s assistant program manager for library development. “That benefits the libraries involved and their patrons. This latest grant lets patrons realize that their libraries, while rural, are still technologically up-to-date.”   

The six libraries plan to order and purchase the eBooks and eReaders in September and spend October preparing the eReaders for circulation.

For more information, contact Petersen at (360) 570-5560 or the local librarians: 

• Joanna Bailey, Neill Public Library, (509) 338-3252 or jbailey@neill-lib.org.

• Kristie Kirkpatrick, Whitman County Library, (509) 397-4366 or kirkpatr@colfax.com.

• Jennifer Ashby, Asotin County Library, (509) 758-5454 or jashby@acl@valnet.org.