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Chelsea Post
INFO520: Social Context of Information Professions
A Grant Proposal for E-Readers at Warner Library
Executive Summary
The following proposal is for the purchase of a dozen e-readers, along with various other
services required for their use, for the Warner Library of Eastern University. These e-readers will
be used by students who cannot afford to buy physical textbooks so that they may have equal
opportunity to learn as those students who can buy the textbook. They will also foster more use
of the library’s services and open communication with the faculty whose classes the e-textbooks
are be used. In total, the project will take just under four months to complete, including working
with the university’s Board of Trustees, conducting surveys, and training staff, and the materials
needed should cost approximately $1,688.
Setting
A.
Warner Library
The Warner Library is on Eastern University’s main campus in St. David’s, PA. It is
housed within the Harold C. Howard Center, a brick building named for Dr. Harold C. Howard,
an ex-dean of the university. Warner Library is a three-floor facility with over 20 databases
available for use as well as 18,000 media items, 49,000 periodicals, and 840,000 microfiche. Its
microfiche collection is particularly impressive, as it is the largest collection in the Tri-state
College Library Cooperative (“Tri-state College Library Cooperative”). The library’s facilities
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include nearly thirty computers spread through the first and second floors, four copy machines
on the first and lower floors, restrooms on all floors, an elevator and entrance for physically
disabled patrons, and wireless access throughout the building. There are also nine study/quiet
rooms available for use (“Warner Library”).
B.
Community
Eastern University, the campus where Warner Library makes its home, is in Radnor
Township, a part of Delaware County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2011), the
population of the county in 2010 was 558,979 people (“State & Country Quick-Facts”). Of that
population, in 2008, 30,878 of them were from Radnor Township (“Radnor Township Annual
Report,” 2008, p.14), and the population has not grown much since then. The township has its
own library, the Radnor Memorial Library, but members of the community also use the Warner
Library. This is evident by its active Friends of the Library Group which raises nearly $7,000 a
year and is run by 14 board members, including a few alumni (“Friends of the Library”).
However, the majority of Warner’s community is its students. Eastern University’s
enrollment is approximately 4,000 students in all of its programs, including undergraduate,
graduate, and its branch colleges (“History and Quick Facts”). The majority of those students are
on-campus learners, but even those who live off-campus use the library’s services via the
MyAthens system (see below). There are policies at work in Warner Library, including a code of
ethics and basic code of conduct (such as beverages with lids only), and the users submit to these
codes without many issues.
C.
Library Organization and Programs
As mentioned above, Warner Library uses a variety of off-campus services, including
MyAthens, a system where distance learners including alumni can use the main campus’
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resources. Other off-campus related programs include EZ Borrow and OCLC, allowing the
library to share between libraries in the area, and updated online guides called LibGuides which
includes RefWorks and a list of academic websites. There are also many channels of
communication between users and librarians, including emails, blogging, Twitter, and IM chats.
The catalog is classified through the Library of Congress system on-site by the librarians
themselves. Warner Library is affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA),
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Special Library Association (SLA), and
Medical Library Association; however, the librarians and staff are encouraged to join other
organizations on their own time. The entire staff works together to buy materials and licenses for
the library, but one staff member is tasked with the job of researching the materials for purchase.
D.
Staff
There are only six librarians at Warner, including full-time and part-time. Twenty student
workers paid through Federal Work Study are employed at the library, primarily as circulation
desk clerks, and there are also four staff workers, including the university archivist. Within the
next year, a seventh librarian will be employed at Warner after they have completed their degree.
Statement of Need
The Warner Library may have many electronic resources for its users, but there are few
ways a student can use those resources without the proper equipment, like their own laptop. One
of these less-used resources are the eBrary books, a collection of over 50,000 academic books
available for full text download (eBrary). Unfortunately, such books cannot be used unless the
user is 1) connected to the network on-campus, or 2) has a proper device with which to download
it onto. The list of appropriate devices is extensive but expensive for the average college student;
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thus, a solution must be found in order to allow these resources to be used. Therefore, we
propose to purchase e-readers that can be used in the library building and be connected to the
eBrary and the other electronic resources Warner offers.
The use of these e-readers would be primarily focused on those students who have chosen
to not buy the print textbook. Reasons why students do not buy textbooks themselves are varied,
but the most popular reason is due to their price. The cost of textbooks has risen throughout the
years, jumping to an average price of $52.36 (Kinzie, 2006, p.2). According to a Government
Accountability Office study, textbook prices tripled between 1986 and 2004, and students
attending a four-year school – what Eastern University is – spent on average $900 on books and
supplies between 2003-2004 (Kinzie, 2006, p.1). These figures may not seem so bad to those
students who are receiving scholarships or other ways to pay through college, but “for students
working to pay for school or for those whose parents sweat every increase in tuition, book prices
can be a nasty surprise -- one more thing putting college out of reach” (Kinzie, 2006, p.1). All of
these factors combined create a situation in which the majority of students, namely 40%, do not
buy textbooks for their classes and risk lower grades by borrowing the books from their peers:
not an ideal situation for librarians who value scholarship and knowledge in its users. This is of
particular concern at Warner because many of its users are students from poorer backgrounds,
making it more likely that they will not have had the funds to buy class materials themselves.
On a more basic level, patrons’ use of library resources is gravitating away from print
resources to their digital counterparts. This is due to several factors, such as reading time, weight
of the resources, and price, but perhaps the best reason given in favor of digital versus print
material is the ease of accessibility. In order to catch this technology wave, the librarians of
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Warner wish to own more electronic equipment that can support these systems as well as open
the library to more users.
This proposal to buy e-readers for use in academic libraries is not original; in fact, it has
been tried before with mainly positive results. Between 2008-2009, Northwest Missouri State
University conducted a project determining how the textbook rental service could be updated to
include e-textbooks (Rickman, 2009). They had discovered that students were no longer buying
textbooks due to the inflated prices, and since e-textbooks can cost up to 50 percent less than a
physical textbook, the researchers determined that an e-textbook rental system would be prudent.
After conducting a three-phase research project including a survey, the results concluded that the
e-textbook service was feasible:
Overall survey results show that 47 percent of the students still prefer physical textbooks
but also reveal a significant set of early adopters willing to explore the realm of etextbook technology. The survey clearly shows that cost considerations play a major role
in student decision making with respect to e-textbooks versus physical textbooks. When
asked if they would prefer e-textbooks over printed textbooks if by using e-textbooks the
textbook rental fee would not increase, 55 percent of the students replied that they would
prefer the e-textbooks. (Rickman, 2009)
However, their survey resulted in these results only after the researchers switched from e-readers
to laptops as the means of accessing the e-textbooks. Nevertheless, the success of e-readers at
Warner Library seems more promising than it did at Northwest because the product they propose
to use – Barnes & Nobles’ Nook – does not have the same problems that the Sony Readers
Northwest used had. If, however, the e-readers do not suffice, then Warner is willing to switch to
laptops of a similar price to the Nooks.
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Proposed Service
A. Project Goals:
The primary goal of this proposal is to give students who cannot buy the textbook or gain
materials in another way to use rented e-textbooks on the library’s e-readers. A secondary goal is
to foster more use of library services, and promoting the rental of e-readers is expected to
complete both of these tasks.
B. Expected Outcomes:
The most expected outcome is an increase in use of the library and its services. Other
outcomes include creating connections between professors, students, and the library staff, thus
fostering cooperation between these groups and perhaps helping to make the opportunity for
other similar projects to be implemented.
C. Materials Needed:
After researching various e-readers on the market, the best option that connects with
Warner’s existing eBrary program is the Nook Simple Touch (“Digital Editions Supported
Devices”). Produced by Barnes & Nobles, the Nook can hold up to 1,000 e-books, has a twomonth battery life, and has seven font sizes available for those with visual disabilities (Nook
Simple Touch). It is also seven inches tall and five inches wide, making it one of the smallest,
thinnest, and lightest (at 7.48 ounces) e-readers on the market to date. The Nook has built-in WiFi and can support many data formats, including PDFs and JPGs. The best feature, however, is
the built-in lending system for public libraries, allowing the e-reader to download books from a
library’s catalogue: a feature that could be used in conjecture with libraries around Warner.
D. Schedule of Implementation of Program
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Before anything is to be accomplished, this proposal must go before Eastern University’s
Board of Trustees, as well as the university president, faculty, staff, and students of the campus.
However, there is no reason to think there would not be approval for the project and support
should be forthwith. Surveys of the student body, formation of focus groups, and communityheld forums will be conducted alongside a formal presentation to the Board. Publicizing the
project will be done primarily through the campus newspaper and radio station, The Waltonian
and WEUR, as well as in the Radnor news services, primarily the Main Line Times newspaper;
these forms of publication will get the program out in the field before approval is official,
thereby creating “buzz” and opening communication between the community and the library. All
of this together should not take more than three months to complete.
Once the program is approved, the librarians of Warner will conduct meetings to
determine what policies will be in effect with the e-readers. One code of use that will be
implemented is that the e-reader cannot leave the building; this will prevent loss of the
equipment and will allow the staff to keep better updates on the system. How this can be
enforced is simple: install a security tag on all Nooks that will sound an alarm whenever the
device leaves the building. Warner Library already has such security in measure with its other
media devices including CDs, DVDs, etc. in their pair of sensor detectors just outside all
doorways. Therefore, creating a security that can work alongside the existing sensors is
important. A possibility is in Security Tag-Store’s merchandise, specifically the Sensormatic
Ultra Strip UltraMax DR Label Barcode (Sensormatic Ultra Strip UltraMax DR Label Barcode).
After the Nooks and security devices have been purchased, a staff member will need to
be trained to run the e-reader rental service. This person will be trained in the code of use,
including the rental process. A possibility for the rental policy can include holding onto the
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student’s school identification, and the student will receive their card back once they have
returned the e-reader. Another possibility is to take a model similar to archives: assign one of the
existing study rooms into an e-reader room where students will be under surveillance while they
use the materials. Other duties the e-reader rental staff member will have to do include updating
the e-books available for use based on professor and student recommendation, caring for the ereaders (including charging batteries, installing system updates, etc.), and clearing any notes or
indications made on the devices by students, thus eliminating privacy concerns.
E. Method of Evaluation:
The Director of Library will keep records of who uses the e-readers and for what purpose.
These records are purely for research and are not against privacy. At the end of the school year,
s/he will tally the results and compare them to statistics on the use/purchase of print textbooks as
provided by the campus bookstore to determine if outcomes were achieved. Once tally has been
completed, the records will be destroyed, thus adding to the security for users’ privacy.
Proposed Budget
The proposed budget includes the cost of the devices and idea of time spent to train
employee on e-reader rental service:
DEVICE: Nook Simple Touch
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Amount: 12
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Price: $99.00 each
SECURITY: Sensormatic Ultra Strip UltraMax DR Label Barcode
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Amount: 1 (comes in 5,000s)
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Price: $275.00
TRAINING:
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Amount: 3 hours per day
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Duration: 5 days
PAYMENT
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Price: $15 overtime per hour
FINAL TOTAL: $1,688
Conclusion
E-textbooks are quickly becoming a major fixture in students’ lives. As a result,
academic libraries such as Warner Library need to be on the cusp of technology with regards to
e-readers and the like; if not, they will be left behind in the wake of Google and Amazon, and
students will not turn to library resources if they are not on par with internet resources.
Purchasing Nooks for rent is just one way that can allow students to interact with the library
again, and it is the best option for Warner Library.
References
“Digital Editions Supported Devices”. (2010). Adobe Digital Publishing. Accessed on 18
November 2011. < http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/supported-devices>.
eBrary. (2011). ProQuest Corporation. Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://support.ebrary.com/>.
“Friends of the Library”. (2011). Eastern University. Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://www.eastern.edu/library/about/Friends%20of%20the%20Library.html>.
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“History and Quick Facts”. (2009). Eastern University. Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://www.eastern.edu/welcome/historyandfacts.html>.
Kinzie, S. “Swelling Textbook Costs Have College Students Saying ‘Pass’”. The Washington
Post, Jan. 23, 2006, p. A01. < http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article
/2006/01/22/AR2006012201290.html> p.1-2.
Nook Simple Touch. (2011). Barnes & Nobles. Accessed on 18 November 2011.
< http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-simple-touch-barnes-noble/1102344735>.
“Radnor Township Annual Report”. (2008). Masterson, T.A., Pres. Wayne: Radnor Township.
Accessed on 18 November 2011. p.14.
Rickman, J.T., Holzen, R.V., Klute, P.G., & Tobin, T. (2009). “A Campus-Wide E-Textbook
Initiative.” EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 32 (2). Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVol
um/ACampusWideETextbookInitiative/174581>.
Sensormatic Ultra Strip UltraMax DR Label Barcode. (2011). Security TagStore. Accessed on
18 November 2011. <http://www.securitytagstore.com/product.aspx?name=
Sensormatic_Ultra_Strip_UltraMax_DR_Label_Barcode>.
“State & County Quick-Facts”. U.S. Census Bureau (2011). Last revised 27 October 2011.
Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/42045.html>.
“Tri-state College Library Cooperative”. Gasiewski, E, coordinator. (2011). Accessed on 18
November 2011. < http://www.tclclibs.org/>.
“Warner Library”. (2011). Eastern University. Accessed on 18 November 2011.
<http://www.eastern.edu/library/index.html>.
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I certify that:
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This paper/project/exam is entirely my own work.
I have not quoted the words of any other person from a printed source or a website
without indicating what has been quoted and providing an appropriate citation.
I have not submitted this paper / project to satisfy the requirements of any other course.
Signature ____ Chelsea Post ______