Canada: E-books High in Demand at Halifax Libraries, Having to Divert More Money into E-Book Purchases

From the CBC:

Halifax public libraries have seen a huge spike in the number of people borrowing e-books, so the they’re now shopping for tablets and e-readers to train librarians to manage the demand.
The libraries are shopping for 40 new devices — iPads, BlackBerry PlayBooks, and Sony e-readers. They’ll be used to train staff to answer questions about how e-readers work.
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Though e-books are electronic, the cost of e-books is placing a strain on the library’s resources
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But the library said it has already had to divert more money into e-books this year than it planned.
In the last year, it spent about $120,000 on e-books and audiobooks — the library estimates about 80 per cent of that figure was on e-books.

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Filed under: Libraries, Public Libraries, Publishing