Walton on Thames leads the way in e-book revolution

By MIKENEWS | Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 20:43

Surrey's e-book revolution, which has taken hold at Walton on Thames library, has seen almost 30,000 titles borrowed online for free during the past two years.

Walton on Thames is one of the areas in Surrey where e-books are proving a hit

More than 4,700 people have checked out 18,450 e-books and 11,500 e-audio books since they became available from the county council's online library in the summer of 2010.

There are almost 2,000 e-books to borrow, the most popular being Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, hotly followed by Stieg Larrson's Millennium trilogy, including The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

And the titles can be downloaded on the go with the launch of a series of free apps for the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile.

Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: "We're determined to embrace new technology to make it easier and quicker for people to access county council services while providing better value for money.

"E-readers and tablet computers are changing the way people buy, borrow and read books which is why it is so important to keep pace with new technology and meet the changing demands of library users.

"The service is evolving with the advent of new technology and we're continually looking to improve. The planned roll out of free Wi-Fi in all Surrey's libraries will open up even more opportunities."

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Comments

Although I do love a good book I have finally given in and got myself a Kindle! I have also joined the online library so will be adding to the number of people borrowing e-books. I still won't give up my real proper books but I am embracing the new technology - the best of both worlds :-)

By MelBattams at 19:32 on 04/10/11
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