Librarians have done a lot of thinking and writing and blogging and worrying about ebooks over the last few years. Ebooks are those imaginary books that one may download through the internet (from outer space) into a handheld device such as a Kindle or a Nook. These gismos are larger than a paperback book and smaller than a breadbox.
On a recent flight, a youngish business woman and I were seated on each side of a dignified, elderly gent. Even more elderly than me. He undoubtedly spent his younger years as a bouncer in a biker bar or as a blocker on a football team. His shoulders consumed the width of his seat and at least half of mine. After we reached altitude, the crew reseated the fellow and all three of us breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled my book out of my purse, found my place and settled in to read the miles away. The woman on my row seemed very relieved to be able to stretch out a little. She found her e-reader –thing, pulled her feet up into her seat and began to read. She tilted her reader, readjusted her seat, raised and lowered the window shade. She fidgeted, wiggled and moved both herself and her reader around and around again. My assumption was that she was trying to correct the glare on her reader screen, but when I told this story to a group of librarians, someone suggested that perhaps she consumed too much pre-flight caffeine or just had an itch she couldn’t scratch in public. Meanwhile, I had read a couple of hundred pages and before she truly settled in, we landed at La Guardia.
I don’t know that her experience is typical. One of my daughters owns and adores a Kindle. Almost daily someone will tell us about his/her experience with one or another of these readers. The newest issue of Consumer Reports reviews several types of e-readers. You can come into the library to read our copy or you can use our website. Below I’m going to give you directions for finding Consumer Reports on our website. You might want to cut this out and post on your refrigerator. You never know when you will want to check out microwaves or blenders or leaf blowers. Might as well do it from home. No shirt or shoes required. Or snow boots, mittens or umbrella.
1. Go to www.humboldtpubliclibrary.com
2. Click on EBSCO in the list of brown boxes on the left of screen
3. Click on EBSCO on the next screen
4. Enter our user name, Humboldtr , (note the “r” on the end of Humboldt) and the password, remote.
5. In the next screen, scroll way down and put a check beside MasterFILE Premier
6. Click continue
7. In the Search box type in the product you wish to research (e-reader, lawnmower, whatever)
8. Click on Full Text
9. Un the Publication box type in Consumer Reports
10. Hit Enter on your computer or Search on your screen

Magically (I’m old enough to think the internet is just short of miraculous), you will find a list of the most recent reviews of your chosen machine, service, device, whatever. Click on the one you wish to read and there you go. You are armed with the most up-to-date information available before you go shopping. By the way, while walking myself through the steps for the tutorial, I discovered that I absolutely must change laundry detergents. Mine is way at the bottom of the Consumer Reports list. I apologize if I have offended you with my less than clean wardrobe recently.
The library owns three different e-readers. We have a Nook, a Kindle and an Ipad. You are welcome to drop by anytime to play with them. A staff member will answer questions if time allows. We are planning to offer a program sometime after the New Year to demonstrate these to anyone who is interested. Two other staff members and I agreed to each learn one device so that we can share with you. Guess who hasn’t.
I asked that group of fifteen assorted librarians if they thought that e-readers were a passing fancy. The older of us aren’t certain. The younger ones all are sure that the dedicated, separate device, the e-reader, may not last forever, but that books in an electronic format will grow in popularity. The gismo that we read them on will change, but not the concept. Perhaps it is time for us fossils to hop on board.
Last Christmas stunned librarians everywhere. We had not anticipated that so many of our patrons would receive e-readers as holiday gifts. We weren’t prepared. We didn’t own enough e-books to keep everyone happy. This year I’m almost on my toes. If you have tried to find an e-book to check out on our NEIBORS website, you were probably disappointed in the selection available. You may have been dismayed at the numbers of people waiting for particular books. We share the content in NEIBORS with many other libraries. Annually we all throw in some money to buy the books and keep the website open and running.
Recently our library has added some e-books that are available only to Humboldt patrons. When you log in with your library card number, NEIBORS can determine (by the card number) which library is your home library. When you log in with a Humboldt card, our extra content will show up in your book search. You don’t need to look anywhere special or click any extra boxes. If someone uses an Eagle Grove or Algona card, he/she won’t see those extra copies we’ve bought. As funds allow, we will keep adding books both to the NEIBORS collection as a whole and especially to our Humboldt-only collection.
This is your library, and you are worth it!