The Duncan Banner

Local News

March 10, 2010

Library board looks to MP3s

Derrick Miller

Books on MP3 may be the wave of the future, and the Duncan Public Library is getting on board.

During Tuesday’s regular library board meeting, Library Director Jan Cole talked about a new service the library is taking out. The service will allow people to download MP3 books onto their MP3 players and iPods.

“The Playaways were a step toward this,” Cole said.

A while back, the library added Playaways to its circulation. Playaways are audio devices about the size of a traditional MP3 player.

But the Playaways have one issue that could be resolved by having an audio book on MP3. Playaways can’t be hooked up to other devices or to a car, whereas, may MP3 players have cords for such hook ups.

In other action:

n Circulation is up at the library, Cole said. One of the biggest booms was in children’s.

“Children’s is so much improved,” Cole said.

She attributed some of the rise in children’s circulation to the addition of reading levels for the children’s books, which makes it easier for parents to find books appropriate for their children.

“Many of the parents appreciate the reading levels,” Cole said.

n The library has continued to weed through its collection to remove books that are old, worn, outdated or lack circulation. Some of the books will be replaced by newer copies, while others will be removed completely from the collection.

Board members Gerald Ketchum and Ann Geurkink were concerned by some of the books being removed from the collection because of fond memories they’ve had of those books.

“They’re books everyone should read,” Ketchum said.

As the library weeds through its collection, book conditions and circulation are a couple of things taken into account. Many of the books being retired haven’t been checked out in more than three years.

In the end, Ketchum and Geurkink joined the other board members in approving the withdrawn list.

n Cole talked about the Bill Gates Broadband Internet Grant, which is aimed at helping to provide high speed Internet to public libraries.

“It will upgrade out Internet speed,” Cole said.

The grant has to be approved by the Duncan City Council before the library can enter into the agreement. Cole said there will be no monthly charge for the first two years. After that, the monthly charge will be $94.

Board President Rick Rodgers said, “There’s no way to lose on this.”



— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.

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