Small, Wireless Reading Device

July 21, 2011

Over the weekend, my little sister Emily and I made a trip to our Grandmother’s house. Our Grandma is what we like to call a "book hoarder" – bookshelves all over her home with too many overflow books to know what to do with. These books are NEVER for sale, donation, or trash … after all, she may read them again (although, usually not).

For Grandma’s own safety, Emily and I decided to go halves on a Nook for her birthday. Sure, we know Grandma barely knows how to use e-mail, but Emily and I thought if we could just get her to start using an eReader, the possibility of her being swallowed by literature could dramatically decrease.

We loaded some of her favorite books on the Nook … as well as some of the stories she would read us as children, just for the added sentimental value. We were very precise when making our decisions, even down to the wrapping paper. "Grandma is going to promote us to her favorite grandchildren after this, I’m sure of it," Emily said. And well, I knew it too.

We were so excited to give it to her that we could barely even wait … we walked in, gave her a hug, and hit her with that box with the big green bow. She opened it up, looked at it, and asked in a confused voice what it was.

"It’s an eReader, Grandma," I said and started to explain how wonderful it was. I told her how many books she could store at one time, how long the battery life was, and pointed out its universal convenience. What she said next slayed me…

"I have an even smaller wireless device that lets me access thousands of books, movies, and music … it’s called a library card. You should know that."

~Julia N.
Parkville Branch

As a side note: If you haven't already discovered this, you should know that you can use your library card to borrow hundreds of free eBooks for your eReader (unless you have a Kindle; Amazon is still working on getting their software up to speed--sorry). Check out Overdrive on our website and start browsing today!