Electronic Library For Students Taking Shape

District librarians receive $19,500 last spring to begin library

— A library of electronic books is being assembled in Fayetteville schools which will officially roll out next month, Fayetteville High School librarian Sarah Roberson told the Fayetteville School Board on Thursday.

At A Glance

Homeless Vigil

The Fayetteville High School Student Council will hold its annual Homeless Vigil on Nov. 29 in front of the high school, Davis Trice, a senior and president of the student council, told the Fayetteville School Board on Thursday. Student council members sleep in cardboard boxes on the school lawn to raise awareness and money for the district’s homeless students. Marian Riner, homeless liaison for the district, told board members the number of homeless students in the district has risen 89 percent in the last six years, from 160 students in 2006 to 302 students last year. This year, she is already working with more than 160 students and their families.

Source: Staff Report

The electronic book titles are being purchased with most of a $19,500 grant to the librarians from the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation late last school year.

Roberson said about 350 titles are available for students in grades nine through 12. The electronic library is divided into three segments: kindergarten through fourth grade; fifth through eighth grades; and nine through 12th grades.

The divisions will prevent younger students, in the elementary grades, from having access to the same books as students in the high school, said Roberson, who is also chairman of the district’s library committee.

The high school books can be converted to audio with a special application, which will be a benefit to visually impaired students and others, such as students who are English language learners.

Roberson said a visually impaired student recently needed to read the epic poem “Beowulf” in large print. The school library didn’t have a large-print version but she was able to get the poem in that format electronically in about a day.

“It’s like building a new library that is never closed,” she said.

The electronic books are checked out for 14 days but in response to a board question, she said the prices vary widely, as an example, from $5.99 to $90.

Susan Heil, a board member, asked about the use of electronic textbooks but Roberson said that was further down the road.

“I would like to see every student with a device to access textbooks, library books and periodicals,” Roberson said.

The system doesn’t provide access to magazines or newspapers but students can read books from the electronic library on every kind of technology device except an older model Kindle by Amazon, although the newer Kindle Fire works with the library, Roberson said.

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