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NetLibrary and Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County Introduce eBooks to Library Patrons
1,500 Titles Available through Public Library eBook Intro Program
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – March 29, 2000 –The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County (PLCMC) and Boulder, Colo.-based NetLibraryTM
are introducing electronic books (eBooks) to patrons of this countywide library
system for the first time, it was announced today at the Public Library Association
conference here.
PLCMC, made up of a main library and 22 branch locations, serves more than
600,000 citizens. Through its Public Library eBook Introduction Program,
NetLibrary is providing this public library system a six-month trial collection of
1,500 eBooks from leading publishers. NetLibrary eBooks are available to the
patrons of PLCMC at terminals in the library branches and from their home
computers through an Internet connection.
"The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County always has been a
forward-looking organization that has embraced new technologies to better
serve the needs of our patrons," said Robert Cannon, Director PLCMC. "By
introducing NetLibrary eBooks to our resource offerings, we are helping to
ensure that our patrons have access to the most relevant and useful resources available."
Libraries will have access to the eBook collection for six months after which
they may choose to purchase all or a portion of the titles. In addition,
collection development librarians may choose other eBooks from the general
NetLibrary collection, which now stands at more than 16,000 titles.
"eBooks provide tangible benefits to libraries and library patrons alike,"
said NetLibrary Executive Vice President Rich Rosy. "For libraries, eBooks
are never lost, stolen, or damaged. For patrons, eBooks are available from
their library anytime of the day or night, from anywhere."
NetLibrary's collection development experts selected eBook titles for this
trial collection with the broadest popular appeal for public library patronage.
Subject areas featured include general reference, careers, business, investing,
computers, health, travel, and more. Titles featured in the eBook collection
include selections from ABC-CLIO reference handbooks, AMACOM books, Cliffs
Notes, Health Communications' Chicken Soup series, Harvard Business School
Publishing, O'Reilly computer guides, Macmillan's The Complete Idiot's Guides
and SAMs computer guides, McGraw-Hill business and computer books, The Rosen
Publishing Group's Coping and Careers series, and Scarecrow's Historical
Dictionaries. In addition to the introductory eBook collection of 1,500
titles, participating libraries will have access to an extensive list of
eBooks in the public domain, featuring classics in literature and history.
NetLibrary is a leading provider of
eBooks and Internet-based content/collection management services. NetLibrary
has established relationships with more than 175 publishers of trade, academic,
reference, and scholarly books, and has created digital versions of nearly
17,000 titles. NetLibrary hosts and manages eBook collections for numerous public,
academic, corporate, and special libraries around the world. The company also sells
eBooks directly to consumers at the NetLibrary website. With NetLibrary, consumers
can choose between PC-based eBooks for reading online or offline, and eBooks for
portable reading on a variety of handheld computers, such as those running the Palm
and Windows CE operating systems.
The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County is a nationally
recognized library system, consisting of a main library and 22 branch locations.
PLCMC's family of websites, including the new bilingual Storyplace for children
and the ALA Notable Bookhive, offer access to databases, business resources,
reader's advisory for children and adults, and in-depth local history. Current
projects include The Virtual Village Communication Center, and the Children's
Learning Center. For more information, please visit the PLCMC website at
http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us.
Contact:
Brian Bell
NetLibrary, Inc.
(303) 381-8703
bbell@NetLibrary.com
Robin Bryan
Public Library of Charlotte in Mecklenberg County
rbryan@plcmc.lib.nc.us
PLA Booth 1705
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