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Yesterday, Susan Smith, Mary Scanlon, and I viewed the online panel discussion on Kindle loan programs at various libraries at the Handheld Librarian Online Conference. At the River Forest Public Library in Illinois, e-books are pre-loaded onto each Kindle. The River Forest Public Library currently circulates three Kindles with fixed, selected content: Popular Fiction Kindle, Popular Non-Fiction Kindle, and Mystery and Suspense Kindle. The selector also considers suggestions for particular titles from patrons. Circulation policies range from 2-3 weeks, and renewal policies vary by library from no renewals to one renewal. At the Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha Library, the overdue fine is $5 per item. After 5 days, there is a “$10 additional processing fee and the replacement cost for each item is assessed.” It was interesting to hear the various ways these libraries are implementing their Kindle loan programs. More information about the Handheld Librarian Conference is available at http://www.handheldlibrarian.org
Panel Discussion on Kindle Loan Programs at the Handheld Librarian Online Conference
Friday, July 31, 2009 3:35 pm
3 Responses to “Panel Discussion on Kindle Loan Programs at the Handheld Librarian Online Conference”
So are they just ignoring the fact that Amazon’s official policy is not to allow library lending of the Kindle? Or has that changed?
I had read somewhere that at some university they were planning a Kindle program for textbooks, however it was put on hold because of complaints from the blind support groups who said that even though there is a voice feature on the Kindle in order to set it up for voice activation, you still had to follow an online screen menu. Which would make it impossible for blind students to use them if they couldn’t activate them in the first place.
http://www.teleread.org/2009/06/26/national-federation-of-the-blind-sues-to-prevent-kindle-deployment/
Lynn- I asked the panelists if Amazon’s policy has changed, and two speakers responded that they were not aware of any changes to Amazon’s policy and that it is difficult to get Amazon’s comments on the topic. Here is the Kindle License Agreement and Terms of Use: http://www.amazon.com/kindlelicense