The Kindle Project



The Kindle Pilot


The subject of e-books was tentatively raised at our Islington Secondary School librarians meetings last year, but this year has been firmly on the agenda.  Jacob Turner from Tower Hamlets came along to our meeting in February to tell us about a pilot scheme he had been running  using Ipod Touches in a selection of local schools.  Following that, I started researching in earnest, to find out as much about using e-readers in libraries as I could.
Having received my own personal Kindle this Christmas, and having been a sceptic when e-readers first appeared on the market, I have since completely revised my opinion. I have always loved ‘real’ books and that will never change, but I also enjoy reading on the Kindle and will use it primarily when travelling or on holiday, which was my original reason for purchase. It is small, attractive and pleasant to read from.  It also got me thinking about ways of encouraging young people to enjoy reading on a Kindle and how it may inspire non-readers to give reading a go.
I put together a proposal for piloting a scheme using Kindles with my Year 8 Reading Group. I chose the Kindle because it is a dedicated e-reader and the school already uses Amazon for purchases. I did not want the distractions and temptations that an Ipod Touch would offer, plus there was the problem of purchasing and adding items to each one.
I was particularly pleased to find out that one title could be purchased and synched to 6 Kindles on the same account. As it was now April and the Carnegie Shadowing was upon us, this seemed the ideal opportunity to purchase the Carnegie titles and put them on the Kindles, thereby saving money and not running the risk of being left with sets of unpopular books once the Carnegie was over, as one does not know in advance what the books are going to be.
I put in a bid for some funding to purchase 6 Kindles and was thrilled to be given the money. Six Kindles were duly purchased. I initially ordered the Wi-Fi only models, but as our school is not in a Wi-fi zone throughout, was advised by the IT department to change to the 3G model. Despite having to reorder them, the 3G Kindles arrived very quickly and took not time at all to set up. I purchased the 6 Carnegie titles through the school Amazon account and added them to each Kindle.  I had also purchased a case for each Kindle and they were added to the library system, each being allocated a barcode and a number.
The Reading group had completed a survey on e-books and e-reading, prior to the arrival of the Kindles. They were very excited when the Kindles arrived and quickly put me to shame by working out instantly how to change the text, add notes etc – ie all the things I had not quite got around to trying out. They had each signed a contract along with their parents, accepting responsibility for the Kindles and promising to look after them. A lot of trust is required here, but in the pilot done by Tower Hamlets, only one Ipod Touch had been mislaid.
I will be adding other titles to the Kindles but I am waiting until the Carnegie shadowing is over, so that the girls are not distracted by having other titles available on the Kindle. They are keeping the Kindles at home for the 2 week period, but  a couple of girls have already had to bring them in to be charged up. I will be compiling a survey and getting feedback on how they found the experience of reading on a Kindle.