SLE Students Gain Access to 1,900 More Books

SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) librarian Michele Holmes has worked for years to find an affordable way to provide students with access to eBooks as part of the school library offerings. At the October 2016 meeting of the Montana Education Association, Holmes helped form a consortium comprised of representatives from small Montana schools. Acting as a unit, the consortium established a shared catalogue of more than 1,900 eBooks for K-12 students.

SLE's involvement in eBooks started in 2011 thanks to then sixth-grade student Kristin Tutor. Tutor entered the annual Letters About Literature contest. Her letter to Lisa Graff, author of "Umbrella Summer," was chosen as one of the six national honor winners. Her award included a $200 Target gift card and a $50 saving bond. In addition her school library – SLE – received $1,000.

Holmes said they asked Tutor what she wanted the money to be used for and she said for buying Kindle E-Readers for the school. Holmes purchased a Kindle for each classroom. However, to supply books for the devices required purchasing them individually from Amazon. Although Holmes did so when an eBook was requested, she continued to search for a more cost-effective method.

Working with Overdrive, the same company that runs Montana Library To Go, the consortium selected 1,900 books, audio tapes, and graphic novels appropriate for the K-12 age group. SLE's portion of the cost is $250. In addition, some of the schools had previously purchased eBooks in much the same manner as Holmes and those books were added to the pool, making the total number of shared library items more than 2,000.

The easiest way for students to access the new items is by installing the free Overdrive app on their own phone, tablet, computer or similar electronic device. The catalogue can also be accessed through the Alexandria (Library Catalogue) link on the home page of the SLE website (www.sleonline.org). Holmes is available to assist anyone who needs help loading the eBooks or the app.

Students log in under the same library user number they utilize when checking out printed books from the school library. The new digital items have their own category but are also integrated with the other library holdings. An online search by author, title, series name, subject or keyword will bring up a listing of all books that fit the category. Those which are accessible only as eBooks will contain the word ONLINE next to the IN or OUT designation. Students who don't have a specific book in mind can find reading suggestions categorized under Most Popular, What's New and Award Winners. Again, the entry will indicate if the book is only available digitally.

Because some small high schools are part of the consortium, the new collection includes young adult (YA) books which may not be appropriate for lower-grade elementary children. For SLE, Holmes has divided access into Juvenile (K-4) and YA (5-8). Though all titles show up in searches, a young reader who chooses a YA book will be denied access at check-out.

The integration of the eBooks into the library catalogue took effect at the end of February and Holmes said there are still a few glitches to work out. For instance, the books previously owned by individual schools and added to the collection do not have Juvenile or YA designations. Holmes said a group of librarians is currently working to classify them.

Another concern Holmes intends to look into is the copyright issue for those using borrowed Kindles. Some students do not own any kind of eReader and would only be able to use eBooks by borrowing a school-owned device.

Holmes is also aware some third or fourth grade students may have the maturity and reading skills to enjoy YA books. Those students can have their parent contact Holmes about upgrading their access status. She said she has already done that for several students.

Holmes said, "I just want kids to read, so if they see something that interests them and their parents say it's fine, I think that's great."

She said if a parent is concerned about their child's readiness for a certain book, one possible approach is for the parent to read it first and then have a conversation after the child has read it.

Holmes said, "My whole goal is to get parents and kids talking about books and reading, so [if the parent has also read the book] you can have conversations even about difficult issues. It opens doors to have some good conversations. I'm just excited about the opportunities."

Students can borrow three print books at a time from the school library. They can also check out three additional eBooks. An e-book can be returned early and another checked out. Holmes said the ability to borrow books online will be especially handy over summer vacation when the school library will not be open.