Peachtree City Library launching online book dialogues in August

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 9, 2001

By  ABBY G. BRUNKS

The Peachtree City Library will soon be offering more than the usual literary selections.

Starting Aug. 16, Author Access online book discussions will debut with author Warren Adler as the first guest.

Adler, who has written 23 novels, is one of the few, and perhaps the only, novelist who has had all his books digitized.

Jill Prouty, library technology and training manager for the library, said the new service grew out of the library's online book club.

"We found that we can reach out to more people online, and decided we could increase our online electronic presence by inviting authors to chat with other people online," she said.

Through Author Access, participants can e-mail questions to Adler regarding past books or future plans. Prouty said questions need to be submitted via the library Web site by Monday at 5 p.m. E-mails need to include name, city and state.

On Aug. 16, Adler will post answers to the questions by 7 p.m. Those waiting for answers will know which response is theirs, based on information they provided.

Prouty said it's not a live online chat, but rather a time-delayed conversation.

"It's more like a bulletin board," she said. "We will see how well this one takes off, and if all goes well, we will invite other authors either monthly or bimonthly."

While computers are a big part of the library business, with more than 1,000 users a month on the Internet computers, Prouty believes paper books will never be extinct.

"In my opinion, nothing will replace the aesthetics of a book, especially fiction books," she said. "But we do get lots of reference questions, and that's when our computer know-how comes in handy."

On the Web: www.peachtree-city.org/library Click on the link for Author Access to submit questions to author Warren Adler.