Electronic book usage in public libraries

This article reports on one aspect of a Laser Foundation-funded research project that tested different models of e-book delivery and offered guidelines for developing e-book collections in UK public libraries. An e-book collection was offered to library users (primarily, users relying on a mobile library service) on Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices at Essex County Libraries. The article considers reaction from both library users and staff. A number of positive and negative reactions to e-books were noted, and the indicative results point to the conclusion that dedicated PDA collections still offer questionable benefits for use in public libraries.