TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- You can't always judge a book by it's cover, well now some readers aren't even seeing the front the book.
E-books are beginning to take the place of bound books for several convenience reasons and a couple of local libraries know they will have to make that transition soon.
It's a normal day for the Lee County Library with the computers packed and people checking out books, but now it is receiving requests for something new.
"We've been getting calls. We have I would say one or two calls a week from folks who are interested in having e-books with our library," said Melissa Holekamp, interim director for the Lee and Itawamba County Library System.
The only problem is the cost of an online system.
Holekamp said it would cost the library about $12,000 annually, totaling 28% of their total book budget for the past year.
However in Oxford, where an e-book system has been in place for two years, it is seeing large online traffic.
"The e-books have really grown over the last two years, when we started offering them on our web site," said Lafayette County librarian, Nancy Opalko. "We do have a lot of classics, you know just a lot of classic literature."
As e-books begin to trend, bound books continue to hold their own. S
Some readers enjoy the convenience of an e-book or say the only book they'll open is the one that has real pages.
"Two things, one I like to buy books. When I buy books then I can peruse it, I can mark in it, I can put questions in them or read it when I feel like it," said Deirdre Favreau from Water Valley. "I like holding it in my hand, I can walk around with it."
Meanwhile, Deborah Haines of Tupelo has a different perspective.
"I use it because it's convenient to always carry it around in my purse," said Haines of her e-reader. "When I'm traveling I can have all the books I want, instead of having a stack to try and stick in a suitcase or something."
Librarians across north Mississippi agree e-books are the future of public libraries. especially when you can have an entire bookcase in your palm.
"I think just as we saw computers a vital part of what people were demanding e-books is kind of a movement in that direction as well," Holekamp said. "We are going to see a continuing demand for that, as with that demand I think libraries will rise to meet that demand."
"Especially the physical aspect of it, where you don't have to have the shelving or the physical space," Opalko added. "I think that will allow smaller libraries to offer more and grow in that way."
As Lee County Library hopes to purchase that online system in the next couple of years, Oxford says it is striving to offer more and more books online each year.
