WATCH ABOVE: The Edmonton Public Library has seen a recent explosion of digital content and e-Usage. Emily Mertz has the details.
EDMONTON — Every three seconds, someone is borrowing something from the Edmonton Public Library. An area that has seen a huge amount of growth in recent years is EPL’s digital collection.
In 2014, the library’s digital catalogues grew by 69 per cent, to a total of 9.3 million items.
“The growth of e-Resources has taken off very specifically in the last number of years,” said Sharon Karr, with EPL’s Collections Management and Access, “both based on the demand from our customers and also because we’ve increased our collections so enormously.”
Digital resources available to members include e-Books, e-Magazines, e-Newspapers, e-Music, e-Movies and TV and e-Learning courses.
“We saw a 30 per cent increase in our e-Books … 50 per cent in e-Audiobooks, 30 per cent in e-Magazines and e-Newspapers,” said Karr.
“I think the stats are something along the lines of a 500 per cent increase for our e-Learning resources but that’s because we’ve increased our offerings so much.”
Last year, a whopping 10.4 million items – digital and traditional – were borrowed. Of those, e-Usage accounted for 1.6 million.
Karr expects the digital collections will continue to grow, along with the use of those items.
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EPL is thrilled to see Edmontonians use its resources, whether it’s in-person or online.
“We have so much to offer,” said Carla Iacchelli, EPL’s Digital Literacy Librarian. “We can meet so many different interests, there’s something really for everyone.”
“When I talk to people, they always know that we have books or CDs and DVDs,” Karr shared. “People are surprised to learn about our e-Learning courses that are available, they’re surprised to know that you can download music for free onto your computer and keep it – it’s yours; legally-downloaded free songs – and popular stuff … they’re surprised to know about streaming video, streaming movies like Netflix that we have. Our service is very similar to that.”
And, while there’s been a surge in the popularity and acquisition of digital content, traditional use is still strong.
“I don’t think it’s hampered it at all, I think it goes hand in hand,” said Karr.
In fact, there were more in-person library visits in 2014 (5.3 million) than there were in 2013 (5.2 million). E-Usage also went up by about 61 per cent over the same time period.
“We keep adding all the time and we keep growing and changing,” said Iacchelli. “Check it out!”
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There were 8.8 million virtual visits to the library in 2014.
“Libraries are a place for learning and they always have been,” added Karr. “That’s always been the focus of public libraries since the dawn of the public library and so it’s only natural that, as we move forward and the digital landscape changes, that the same thing would be happening in the libraries.”
EPL library cards are free of charge.
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