BY ROBERT DIGITALE

The Sonoma County Library recently has done more than add ebooks to its collection (see last post.) It also has built a separate site where patrons can discover local authors and their works, potentially even checking out their ebooks.

Readers can find more than 400 local authors at a new library website: Local Authors Community. You can find the site here.

David Dodd, the library’s collections manager, recently told me that in this digital age libraries are branching out to do more than buy, catalog and circulate books. He even suggests they are reversing their approach as a conduit for information:

 “Where we used to bring the world to our communities, we now bring our communities to the world. Hence the ‘Community’ project of the Sonoma County Library, which has begun with a website devoted to highlighting our local authors, both past and present.

 “I hope to expand the scope of this project to include all those who provide creative expression–musicians, artists, filmmakers, theater artists, and all who enrich our lives here in Sonoma County through the arts.”

The community site features author bios and links to works in the library collection. It’s just getting started, but the library is preparing to host the ebooks of willing local authors.

It pleases me very much to provide the following disclosure: the first two ebooks offered via the local authors’ site are my fantasy novel, “Horse Stalker,” and The Press Democrat’s recent serial, “Sonoma Squares Murder Mystery.” You can find and download them here. You’ll see the site even has a way to connect you to the library’s printed copies of “Horse Stalker,” if you would prefer to borrow the book in that format.

Local authors can contact Dodd at ddodd@sonoma.lib.ca.us.

Will more local authors provide ebooks, allowing readers free access to their work? I think they will. Here’s a golden opportunity to connect with a key group of readers: those in your own backyard.

Thank you, Sonoma County Library, for helping connect local readers and writers.

AFTER I PUBLISHED THIS POST, DAVID DODD PROVIDE A GUEST POST WITH ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON DONATING EBOOKS TO THE LIBRARY. YOU CAN FIND IT HERE.

(Visited 40 times, 1 visits today)