In 2008 Sue Polanka created the blog No Shelf Required to discuss issues surrounding e‐book publishing and the impact on libraries. The blog went on to win a Salem Press Library Blog Award in 2010 and a book by the same name came out later that year.
In this second volume, No Shelf Required 2: Use and Management of Electronic Books, Polanka has brought together a new collection of essays and case studies describing many of the questions librarians are facing with the integration of e‐books and e‐readers into their collections. There are sections on e‐book access, content creation and management, and several chapters featuring case studies from specific institutions that have loaned out e‐reader devices to patrons.
The book was originally published by the American Library Association and as such, has a primarily North American perspective, highlighting academic and school libraries, with a couple of examples from public libraries as well. Many of the experiences and events mentioned throughout the book occurred in 2010 and 2011, such as the HarperCollins/OverDrive announcement and the release of the iPad.
Where the first volume gave introductions to e‐books in specific contexts such as public libraries and academic libraries, the second volume addresses the functionality of e‐books in terms of accessibility, preservation challenges, economic challenges, cataloging, enhancements, distribution, and self‐publishing.
The first chapter explores the fine balance of keeping digital and physical collections or moving to an entirely digital library. With such a future in mind, the second chapter questions the ability of low‐income families to access and participate in digital collections at libraries. Access is further studied in chapter three with issues of e‐book accessibility, standards, and file formats, followed by chapter four's comparison of mobile devices using the various e‐book sources of an academic library. Chapters five, six, and seven consider the collection development and discovery aspects of maintaining e‐books in a library catalog. Chapter eight touches on the multimedia developments appearing in e‐books, and chapter nine brings up issues of planning, training and features a spotlight on the HarperCollins e‐book restrictions. Chapters ten and eleven encourage readers to think of alternative roles and models for electronic content in libraries, including self‐publishing and partnering with local agencies to host digital materials. The final five chapters of the book describe the experiences of specific libraries piloting e‐reader lending programs with helpful lessons learned and suggestions for moving forward.
For any library manager, librarian, or library student wishing to stay well‐informed on a healthy variety of e‐book concerns, this book offers an excellent collection of straightforward, practical recommendations. The breadth of topics covered, as well as the candid tone set throughout, makes this an ideal choice for a library staff book club or a library school textbook.
Some of the themes appearing in all the chapters are:
the amazing amount of change that has happened in the last two years and that will continue happening for the foreseeable future; and
the need for libraries and librarians to prepare for and accept the new roles they will be playing with regard to these changes.
Polanka sums up the overall message perfectly in her introduction: “E‐book content, devices, and services have created challenges for libraries as well as opportunities.” In order to find more potential than difficulty in the coming challenges and opportunities, all librarians – especially library directors – would benefit from each of the chapters featured in this collection.
