I love the public library. Not surprising, considering I’m an author AND and a teacher-librarian here in Toronto. It’s also not surprising that public libraries around the world are under attack from many sides for many reasons. One of the biggest questions often asked of our public libraries is: “What’s their role in a world where everything is just a google search away and books are downloaded, not borrowed?”
I recently stumbled on one way that the Toronto Public Library is answering that question and it involves my books presented in a whole new way.
The Toronto Public Library has bought a license to TumbleBooks, a site that converts children’s books into simple animations with music and voices and all that stuff. The books live on the TumbleBooks server and are normally behind a subscription paywall. However, the TPL license opens the door to these books to anyone who first visits the library website, then clicks on the TumbleBook image at the top of the page.
In a way, it’s no different than what a physical library does right now. Patrons go through the library doors, find the book they want and then read it. I think this is a really innovative service for the library to play in this world of digital books.
I’ve already shown the site to many of my students who love the content but wouldn’t be able to afford the subscription fee to TumbleBooks. The key here for TPL, is that access to TumbleBooks only comes by going through the library website. I’m hoping that visitor figures to the TPL site are tied into their funding from the city and counted as a “use” by the public. As we all move more and more online, a model like this seems to answer that question around the role of the 21st library.
So, jump over the the Kidspace page of the TPL website, click on the Tumblebooks link and find all my books in the Graphic Novels section.
Enjoy!
