Santa Clara County Libraries Tout E-Book Resources With 46K Options for Patrons

By Bay City News Service:

 The Santa Clara County Library District is encouraging readers to delve into more than 46,000 free e-books being made available to library cardholders.

 In an effort to entice readers, the library district last year joined ReadersFirst, an international coalition of libraries that aims to improve e-book access and services for public library patrons.

 ReadersFirst allows patrons to search one comprehensive catalog to access library offerings; as well as place holds, check out and renew items, view availability and manage fines.

 Without ReadersFirst, library patrons would often be directed to third-party sites when checking out an e-book from a library, virtual library manager Megan Wong said.

 "The user experience gets fractured because there are several different distributors," she said, adding that patrons would have to log in again on a separate website before the library joined the ReadersFirst coalition.

 "We're trying to bring all of the content and features to our own library site," Wong said.

 She said the library district has seen a spike in demand for e-books among patrons, which prompted the district to make the experience as seamless as possible.

 Wong said that each year, the library tries to increase the number of e-books it has in its collection.

 "We have been seeing a trend in that our e-books have increased 75 percent in the last fiscal year," she said.

 The Santa Clara County Library District began offering e-books in 2007. To view the "ReadersFirst Guide to Library E-Book Vendors," people can visit www.sccl.org/readersfirst.

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