The library originally held off allowing children access to its ebook system, because Elmore believed it had no system in place to prevent children from accessing adult literature. 

“We will need to address kids cards. Right now, I have them all set up as adult cards,” Elmore said during the Oakland City/Columbia Township Library Board of Trustees’ May 13 meeting. 

“This big problem is, when we installed the app, you have to be 13. I can’t really open the door to the kids, who can’t legally access it. I’m going to do a little homework and see what other libraries are doing with kids cards to see if there is a way to let parental control get in there and parent their child the way they wish.” 

Elmore said she would check with other libraries and see how they implemented their kids cards program. Wednesday, she informed the board of her findings to the board.

“The vast majority of [libraries] just turn the kids cards on and they have not had any issues,” Elmore said. “There is a separate app designed just for kids ... If the kids go through the computers, then they have access to everything. Parents have access to the accounts so they can set them to show certain things. If they want to install the app on an Ipad, tablet or whatever, there is an app that asks the you are over the age of 13. If you hit no, then it automatically forces you to go to kids’ reading room.”

Elmore recommended parents who wish to prevent their children from having access to adult literature set up their son or daughter’s ebook account through a cell phone or tablet computer through the OverDrive app. 

“I always recommend that parents parent their children. That is the best advice I can give to them,” Elmore said. “They know what they want their kids reading. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but I feel they should implement any parental controls that they need ... The best way to go about it is the app.”

In April the library joined OverDrive program, which gives patrons access to ebooks from a network containing more than 22,000 other libraries, schools and retailers around the world. In the first month of the library’s ebook program, Elmore said she had 41 checkouts from an entirely adult client base. She believes adding children to the ebook program could lead to a significant increase in ebook checkouts. The increase in readership would also greatly impact the library’s summer reading program, which has lost some participants due to a recent economic boon.

“Enrollment is still below our 2013 high. Right now, we are sitting at around 75 kids,” Elmore said. “However, looking at some statistics, we discovered that school enrollment is down. We started looking back at a couple of other leading indicators. Unemployment in 2013 was at 6.5 percent and now it’s at 3.5 percent. We have substantially more people working and they’re not at home to bring their kids. We are trying to get the word out that they do not have to be at the library to be a part of the summer reading program.”

Elmore believes ebooks are a great way to keep children involved in summer reading, even when their parents are at work. 

“There will be a bump in the numbers. Kids and young adults read on multiple different formats,” Elmore said. “... I can go in and get the statistics on how many times card holders have downloaded books. Whether or not you want to spend that much time digging through the weeds, we can verify that they are reading.”