eBooks

Libby has the POWER!

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Patrons upset about Hoopla? Yeah. Are they not satisfied with the tantalizing offers of both CLP and Free Library of Philadelphia cards for Libby? Also yeah. They come with those wait times we have heard so much about. 

Well, guess what! 

POWER Library has collaborated with OverDrive to roll out a pilot project that makes Libby available for all Pennsylvanians! This is an independent, statewide collection of over 14,000 always available titles that anyone with a public library card in PA can enjoy. Patrons can have 5 items checked out at a time and have 5 holds. 

Patrons will need either a library card from their local public library or an E-Card issued by POWER Library. They can sign up here.  

Patrons can visit powerlibrary.overdrive.com or Power Library’s Libbyapp page in a browser to access the POWER Library collection, or add the POWER Library collection in the Libby app. Here’s how: 

Using a Web Browser 

  1. Select Access Now 
  1. Select Sign In 
  1. Search/select for your library. (If using an E-Card, search/select POWER Library as your library.) 
  1. Enter the requested credential(s) 
     

Using the Libby App 

  1. Select Add Library 
  1. Search for POWER Library 
  1. Enter the requested credential(s) 

More Libby for everyone! MORE!  

-Mary, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Continue ReadingLibby has the POWER!

Upcoming changes to Adobe IDs

We recently learned of a change coming soon for Adobe IDs, which are used by OverDrive users who download Adobe EPUB or Adobe PDF eBooks to read on a computer or transfer to an eReader. This change does not impact users who read eBooks in Libby, their browser, or on Kindle.

Starting this month, users who download and authorize Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) for the first time will need to create a ByteBooks ID instead of an Adobe ID. This is because Adobe’s eBook platform (including ADE) is now managed by Wipro, owner of ByteBooks. Existing ADE users will not be impacted unless they encounter an issue that requires reauthorization or want to authorize a new device.

Since Adobe eBook downloads make up a very small percentage of overall checkouts, and most existing users will not be affected, we expect the overall impact of this change to be limited. Please direct any affected users to Overdrive’s help article for additional assistance.

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingUpcoming changes to Adobe IDs

Organizing Your TBR with Bibliocommons

With big changes to Hoopla coming in the next few weeks, you might get questions similar to what we experienced when we changed lending limits in 2024 – namely, patrons wondering how exactly they’re supposed to keep track of the hundreds of book titles they’ve vaguely mentally filed away, promising themselves they’ll get to them one day. Now that Hoopla might not be so instantaneous, it might be a good time to remind them of a core feature in their Bibliocommons account to help people bookmark their planned checkouts: the For Later shelf.

Patrons can search any item in the catalog and, with a click of a button, add it to the shelf. The biggest benefit here, in the face of these Hoopla changes, is that all of the availability info is right next to this button, so it promotes physical library use if they’re unable to get this item through Hoopla.

Once books are added to your shelf, you can view your shelf and easily move items around once you’ve read them.

From this Manage Item menu, you can mark that books are completed or in progress, or remove it entirely from your shelves. You can also add tags to your books, which is what makes For Later your best option on Bibliocommons – you can create a “Hoopla wishlist” tag, so you can easily filter out everything else and just view the items you’re hoping to get on Hoopla in the near future.

Of course, Hoopla has its own bookmarking feature – you can add items to your favorites and view them through your profile. I don’t think this feature is utilized to its fullest potential: you can filter by audiobook or ebook, but otherwise you have to just scroll through all the items to find what you’re looking for, which is not ideal.

Hopefully it’s smooth sailing as we implement these changes, but it’s always helpful to remind patrons about existing features they can benefit from.

-Jaime, Penn Hills Library

Continue ReadingOrganizing Your TBR with Bibliocommons

ADIEU, ADE. HELLO, THORIUM!

Do you remember your Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) username and password? Neither do I! It makes it frustrating to read the EBSCO eBook I downloaded! Is this familiar? Well, good news.  

Due to the upcoming ADA II compliance deadline, EBSCO eBooks is sunsetting its Adobe Digital Editions requirement. The product will not be in compliance, and EBSCO has moved on! Welcome to the modern era: Thorium Reader!  

A blue app tile with the letters "Th" in white text, and the word "Thorium app" underneath.

Thorium is a modern alternative to ADE, specifically designed for offline eBook reading. Unlike ADE, patrons will no longer have to create a separate username and password (note: they will still be required to use their EBSCO username and password). 

Thorium’s benefits include a range of text-to-speech functions, the ability to choose font type, text size, and spacing, as well as change the overall layout of the eBook. It is also designed to work with a variety of screen readers, making it accessible to more types of readers than ADE could ever dream of.  

This will only affect offline reading, when a patron checks out and downloads an EBSCO eBook from our collection. Right now, Thorium is only available via desktop and iOS apps, though the Android version is coming down the pike. 

Again, the online reading experience won’t change. When a patron wants to download an eBook for offline use, they will need to download Thorium instead of ADE. Below, you can see what it will look like in the EBSCO experience. Note at the bottom, patrons are provided with a passcode that they will be prompted to enter once they open Thorium.  

They will only need to enter the passcode once per device to open the downloaded eBook. Additionally, they can use the same passcode across six devices simultaneously. If, as happens, they forget the passcode, it is easy to generate a new one. 

Thorium is available as an app on our Microsoft desktop and laptop computers. You can download it now to take a look!

ADE will no longer work with EBSCO eBooks beginning on April 14. You can find out more by visiting EBSCO’s Thorium FAQs here. Onward, into our glorious eBook future! 

-Mary, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 

Continue ReadingADIEU, ADE. HELLO, THORIUM!