Presentation for the North Shore Computer Society May 10, 2012

1. Elizabeth B. Thomsen
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
May 10, 2012

2.  Over 5,000 titles
 Over 6,000 copies
 About 2/3 ebooks, 1/3 audiobooks
 Adult, Young Adult and Children
 Fiction and Nonfiction
 Popular and Academic
 English and Russian
 Support for many popular devices, including
Kindle, Nook, iPad/iPod/iPhone, Android
smartphones and tablets, Blackberries, more

3.  It’s complicated
 Several different file formats
 DRM issues
 Not all devices support all formats
 Not all books are available in all formats
 People often struggle to get that first book
 Not all books available to libraries
 Publisher issues and rights issues

4.  12,645 individual borrowers
 560 new borrowers last month
 28,635 checkouts in Jan-Apr 2012
 Use is steadily increasing with a big jump last
September when Kindle support was added,
and last Christmas, when ebook readers and
tablets were popular gifts

13.  Project Gutenberg
 ManyBooks.net
 Librivox
 Beyond reading: annotated editions, literary
mash-ups, adaptations, illustrated editions

17.  Elizabeth Thomsen
 et@noblenet.org