The SM East library is going to receive 20 Barnes and Noble Nook devices in January. This is paid for via a grant through the East Fund.
East librarian, Kathi Knop, was the one who submitted the grant request for the Nooks. With the approval of the grant, the door was opened for the library to get 15 Simple Touch Nooks and five Color Nooks.
Knop would like to see the Simple Touch Nooks used for a new book club in the near future.
“Then everybody will have the same [book] title,” Knop said. “But they’ve all got it on their Nook. Then if we’re not having book club, then they’ll just be available to anybody for check out.”
The Simple Touch Nook readers will be able to be checked out like any other book in the library. They will have a standard bar-code and will be able to be checked out for three weeks at a time, but there will be no renewals. The Nook Colors will remain in the library and will be loaded with content such as magazines for students to view.
The total cost for the grant comes to about $4,000. This includes the 20 refurbished Barnes and Noble Nooks, protection plans, cases, some e-book titles and even a Barnes and Noble credit card for future purchases.
Knop got the idea after learning how other schools have been implementing the new technology in their systems.
“I’ve been reading about other school libraries that have gotten Kindles or Nooks,” Knop said. “I thought, ‘Ok this would be something fun to check out,’ so I investigated [and found out that Nooks are more suitable for a library].”
Instead of another e-book reader, such as Amazon’s Kindle, Knop says Barnes and Noble’s Nook was chosen because it is easier to use in a library setting. Currently, if a title is purchased for one of the school Nooks, then it will be synced to all of the other 19 Nooks. However, Barnes and Noble may change this in the future, requiring that one copy is bought for each device. Initially, the Nooks will come loaded with 10 titles, including books such as “Hunger Games”, “City of Bones” and “Maze Runner”.
Even with the draw of new and interesting technology, Knop thinks that the e-book readers aren’t going to affect the library in a negative way.
“I just think it’s a part of the evolving nature of libraries today,” Knop said. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt book checkout, I really don’t. I think it’ll just be another opportunity for reading, just on a different venue.”
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