Now I feel like [URL="http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/26/ebook-lending-changing-twin-cities-libraries" URL]should've been a vital part of my high school and college days:
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The Ramsey County library in Roseville circulates more materials than any public library in Minnesota. But you might not know that by looking at it.
"We've hit a tipping point where we now have more virtual visits than physical visits in the library," said Susan Nemitz, director of the Ramsey County library system, a key testing ground for the new, electronic public library.
Metro-area libraries are using two e-lending systems: Ohio-based Overdrive and 3M's Cloud Library.
The new phone and tablet apps are bringing in more readers than original download technology, said David Burleigh, an executive with Overdrive, which offers about 1.8 million titles to libraries around the world.
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"Libraries have done a good job of buying front list, what's exciting, what's new. The day it's released it's probably going to be at your library," said Mercer. "And they still do a really good job of that."
Mercer said a half million patrons have borrowed about 3 million books this year across 3M's online system in the U.S. and Canada.
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Kirk Pederson, a Richfield library patron, said improved online access helped him shift to e-books for his fiction reading. He said it's convenient to not have to go to the library.
"I'd say right now I probably do about 75 percent e-books, 25 percent hard copy," Pederson said.
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