Library Grant Helps Buy E-Readers for High School

A $30,000 grant from the Ocean City Free Public Library will help buy e-readers for 200 Ocean City High School students next year.

The grant is part of an effort to create "things outside the library that bring people back into the library," Ed Price, president of the library's Board of Trustees, said at at a presentation to the Board of Education on Wednesday.

With a library card, students will be able to download books for free from a system at the library or through the library's website (the books expire after a certain period of time).

E-readers are electronic devices that have enough memory to store multiple texts. Because no paper or printing is involved, books are much cheaper to purchase. The equipment Ocean City will purchase cost $133 apiece with a $19 case.

Juniors and seniors in certain classes will receive their own e-readers to take home next year. They will include USB cords for uploading and downloading material. Teachers will be able to transfer their own material to the devices, and students will be able to download classic books that are no longer copyrighted.

At the same meeting, the board accepted another grant from the library: $18,600 for a "Bringing the Wetlands Institute into Ocean City's classrooms" program. The grant will help bring students to Stone Harbor's Wetlands Institute and bring Institute educators to the library and the schools for presentations.