Presented at the 2014 Pacific Northwest Association of Church Libraries (PNACL) annual conference at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington.

1. Beyond the Blocks: E-Books
Ann Pool PNACL 2014 Conference Kirkland, WA
Why e-books?
 Obvious answer: they’re the wave of the future and young people like them
 Go beyond the obvious: everything can be large print
 Can help mitigate losing physical library space
What are churches doing today?
 Talking a lot about what is and isn’t possible!
 Overdrive: see http://www.colleengreene.com/2014/01/14/investigating-overdrive-ebooks-
audiobooks-for-a-church-library/ and links to Glenn McEowen’s reports from that page
o Startup cost $4000, annual $2000 collection minimum
o Libraries have formed consortia but those may no longer be encouraged
 Amazon Kindle
o One-time loan possible for some titles: see http://nccumc.org/mediacenter/kindle-
ebooks/
o Load books on a Kindle and loan it: the newer Kindle Fire (but not older models) can be
locked to prevent purchases, see http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/3/2997660/kindle-
fire-update-password-protected-purchases-parental-controls
 Working with public libraries
o Requesting Christian books
o Helping members use the library
How can we get free e-books?
 Review books in exchange for free copies: see http://thebluestockings.com/2009/05/5-ways-to-
get-review-copies-of-books/
o Other sources: http://abovethetreeline.com/bloggerreviewermedia/ and
https://www.netgalley.com/
o Connect interested church members with services
o Preview books for later purchase
o Caution: putting review copies in library collections is generally considered unethical,
see http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/06/all-about-arcs-ins-and-outs-of-using.html
 Freely available books (mostly moldy oldies in the public domain)
o Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
o LibriVox audiobooks: https://librivox.org/
o Open Library: https://openlibrary.org/

2. Another option: connect our readers with free e-books!
 Find promotions at publishers and retailers
o Christianbook.com: http://www.christianbook.com/page/ebooks/free-ebooks
 Only get currently running promotions, no start or end dates
 Some are samples or very short books
 ePub format works on a variety of devices
 Primarily Baker Publishing Group, other publishers as well
o Bethany House (fiction): http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/bethanyhouse/ebook-
specials-from-bethany-house
 Includes future promotions and start/end dates
 Links to a variety of retailers (some may not honor the promotion)
 Variety of formats depending on what each retailer offers
o Chosen Books (Holy Spirit focus): http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/chosen/new-ebook-
specials-from-chosen-books
 Includes future promotions and start/end dates
 Links to a variety of retailers (some may not honor the promotion)
 Variety of formats depending on what each retailer offers
o BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/home/
 Sign up to get deals from multiple retailers in one place
 Only get currently running promotions, sometimes get end dates
 Curated list, can be a timesaver if you like their selections
 “Necessity may be the mother of invention, but laziness is the cool aunt.” –me
 How-to video at https://www.youtube.com/user/girlwsquirrel/videos
o Just Google free Christian e-books and see what’s out there!
 Curate a collection for your church members
o Preview and review books
 If they’re free and you have time to read them, you’re set!
 Amazon often lets you download the first chapter free
 Online reviews
 Reviews at e-commerce sites tend to be generous: my guideline is 4.5 of
5 stars to acquire a book (5 stars may mean they recruited loved ones)
 Book lover sites like LibraryThing and Goodreads
 Negative reviews may be the most useful to read: would you share the
concerns?
 Don’t forget the Lamplighter!
o Provide a place for your members to find currently free e-books
 Make a list on your website
 Use Google Calendar to show what’s available when
 How-to videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/girlwsquirrel/videos
 Whatever you do, keep it updated!
 Promote, promote, promote!

3. Contacts and References
 Email: annpool@alumni.washington.edu
 Church library website: http://crossandcrownrentonlibrary.blogspot.com
 YouTube how-to videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/girlwsquirrel
 My LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6935388
 Slides from this presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/AnnPool/beyond-the-blocks
 This handout, complete with links: http://www.slideshare.net/AnnPool/beyond-the-blocks-
handout