A second batch of e-readers are now in circulation at Greater Victoria libraries.
Friends of the Library covered the cost of 28 new Kobo e-readers after the initial 21 it bought for the libraries as a pilot project in February racked up nine-month wait lists.
“They’ve been very, very popular,” said Rina Hadziev, technical services co-ordinator for the Greater Victoria Public Library.
Initially Kobos were non-reservable and could only be picked up from the loan desks at the Central, Juan de Fuca, and Nellie McClung branches. But in April libraries started offering holds with pick-up available at any branch. The wait lists have been long ever since.
It also helps that the library loads the Kobos with popular titles that see highest demand in their print form.
“For a lot of people, especially seniors, being able to read recent releases on a tablet means they can control the size of text and don’t have to lug a heavy book around,” Hadziev said. “The e-readers make reading more accessible to more people.”
Besides a some minor, repairable damage to screens, Hadziev said there have been few difficulties with leading out Kobos, which retail for about $150.
“We’ve had no theft, no malicious damage, not even many over-dues with the e-readers,” she said.
The new batch of Kobos are touch-screen style, which Hadziev said is even more intuitive to use than the original style that have a rubberized pad is used to flip the page.
And the library has loaded a different set of books on its Touch collection, picking fiction and non-fiction books that are popular right now, such as The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Bossypants by Tina Fey.
Because of wait lists, the loan period for the Kobos is limited to 14 days and late fee is $5.
To reserve one, visit www.gvpl.ca and search “Kobo” in the library catalogue and place a hold that same way you would a book.
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