EBOOKS AND BEYOND: THE CHALLENGE FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

A survey of Sunshine Coast library users indicates that there is a high level of interest in ebooks and e-audiobooks and also that there is strong demand for technologies such as the iPhone, iPad and Amazon's Kindle. These local trends, mirrored internationally, present public libraries with a challenge to dramatically improve their virtual offerings, or lose relevance in this emerging high growth area. They also have a responsibility to play a leadership educational role in informing their communities about e-readers, content and associated trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]