Conventional wisdom says that a shark must be in a state of constant forward motion or it will perish. Libraries, it would seem, are much the same — always looking ahead.
The St. Albert Public Library has recently brought in a series of new gadgets called Playaways, portable electronic devices much like a pre-loaded MP3 player. Each unit comes with a separate book title that contains the material much like any other audio book. The difference is that it is smaller and you don’t have to constantly flip through CDs or tapes to get to the next chapter. All you need are your own earphones and a AAA battery.
This is all part of an ongoing effort to embrace new technologies to both increase the accessibility and usefulness of the library’s services and to keep them current and relevant with new trends. Introduced less than two months ago, the popular Playaways have already made their mark as they fly off the shelves. Public services manager Peter Bailey says they don’t sit around long enough to collect any dust.
“They’re very popular. They all went out immediately. We had a big shelf with nothing on it except for a poster saying ‘Try a Playaway.’ People did.”
While there are only about 200 titles of both fiction and non-fiction in total for the adult, teen and children’s book categories, the collection continues to grow. One of the big draws is that it is ready to play, making it as user-friendly as possible. All you have to do is turn it on and press play. Each unit is also about the size of an iPod Classic or half a deck of cards.
“When you see them on the shelf it looks like an old-fashioned video cassette.”
The library has long offered audio books, first on tapes and then CDs. In recent years it has also begun providing electronic books users can download to their own MP3 players or TumbleBooks kids can watch through web streaming. Kindle books aren’t on the slate just yet but Bailey predicts that it’s just a matter of time for them too once some standardization in the industry occurs.
“We’re taking e-books slowly at the moment. No library has Kindle. We don’t want to leap in and spend a lot of taxpayer money on something that’s only used by a few people.”
Regardless of how daunting the infusion of electronics and digital media might seem to some, there will always be traditional literature. You know? The kind that’s printed on paper.
“Just come and take out a book! We as a library embrace technology. We’re always looking for the new thing. The Playaways are good for people who are not ready for downloading books perhaps, even if they have an iPod. It’s easy.”
For more information, call the library at 780-459-1530 or visit www.sapl.ab.ca.
