1. Ally Pace
Ally.Pace@eagles.usm.edu
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2. Decide which readers to cover
 Pick the e-readers that seem to be the most popular
among consumers/ your patrons
 Kindle
 Nook
 Sony
 Kobo
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3. Train Staff
 Take the time to train all staff
that help patrons on a regular
basis how to use e-readers
and perform basic functions.
 Give them the chance to
explore the e-readers on their
own.
 Staff that are to conduct the
programming can be your
resident e-book experts!
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4. Cover Basic Functions
 It’s always best to start with the basics
 Turn on/off
 Charging
 Registering
 Downloading titles
 Turning page, bookmark, highlight, etc.
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5. Decide How Many Devices To Cover
In Each Session
 Depending on the number of staff available to help
with this programming, it might be easiest to limit
sessions to only covering two e-readers
 Begin with a general welcome and introduction
 Break participants into groups according to their e-
readers
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6. Ideas for Handouts
handouts are useful and patrons can take them home to consult later
 A list of popular and  Quick tips highlighting all
trusted sites where patrons of the extra features
can find free e-books. available on the readers
 A step-by-step of how to (text-to-speech, web
borrow e-books from the browsers, etc.)
library (if applicable)  Basic functions: turning
 Screen shots of adding the page, highlighting
books manually to the e- bookmarking, dictionary,
reader from the computer. etc.
 Troubleshooting  Which file types are
readable by which readers.
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7. E-books and File Types Compatible with E-readers
Reader Plain Text PDF ePub HTML Mobi-pocket Broadband Kindle
(.txt) (.pdf) (.epub) (.html) (.mobi, .prc) eBook (.lrf, .lrx) (.azw)
Sony Reader Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Kobo eReader Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Nook Color Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Amazon Kindle Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
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8. Demonstrate a Download
 Once the patrons have been grouped by their e-
readers, take them to a computer station and
demonstrate a title download.
 You can do this using a free site (like Project
Gutenberg), your library’s e-book lending system, or
another online e-book store.
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9. Share Time
 Not every patron that attends
programming will be a novice
with their e-reader.
 Give patrons a chance to
share quick tips and solutions
they’ve figured out on their
own.
 Ask for e-book site
recommendations, their
favorite features on their e-
readers, etc.
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10. Great Sites for Free E-books
 www.gutenberg.org – Here you can download titles to and e-reader or read
them online. The site features over 38,000 free books.
 www.freekindlebooks.org – This site has many of the same titles that Project
Gutenberg does, but they are specially formatted to work with Kindle. The
titles can be downloaded to a computer and then transferred to a Kindle, or the
books can be downloaded to the Kindle using Kindle’s web browser to access
the site.
 www.manybooks.net – This site features public domain works and titles from
the Creative Archives.
 www.free-ebooks.net – You must have a membership to access titles on this
site. The free membership allows up to 5 downloads a month in .pdf or .txt
format. The paid membership ($39.97 a year) gives the user unlimited
downloads and access to formats better suited for Kindle, Nook, etc.
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11. Great Sites Continued
 www.inkmesh.com – This is actually a search engine for free e-books. The site
searches 34 other sites for the title you request. It is very helpful if you want to
find out where to find a title, or if you want to know if a title is available for
free.
 www.feedbooks.com – This site features free public domain works and original
works. This site does not have formats that work with Kindle.
 www.amazon.com – Amazon does have free titles available for Kindle.
 www.barnesandnoble.com/nookbooks - Barnes & Noble has partnered with
Google Books to make more free e-books available for Nook users.
 www.kobobooks.com – This site does have some free titles available for Kobo.
 www.ebooks.sony.com – This site has some free titles available for the Sony
Reader.
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12. Thank you for your attention!
Questions?
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