eBooks

eChanges Drop-in Sessions

We all know eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines are only becoming more popular. But the way publishers and vendors have designed their services to take advantage of this has become an issue that is impacting libraries all over the country. This is affecting us too, and we will have to adjust our Libby and hoopla holds and check-out limits to rein in rising costs later this year.  

These choices are the result of quantitative and qualitative research, and we acknowledge that patrons may be upset at the change. We are offering three drop-in sessions you can attend to learn more about the reason this is happening, what the changes are, and what you can do support patrons. A recording will also be available. 

Event details

Below are the session dates and times with links to the Teams meetings.

Tuesday, July 9: 1:00pm – 2:00pm 

Wednesday, July 10: 10:30am – 11:30am 

Tuesday, July 16: 1:00pm – 2:00pm 

Questions? Contact Hilary Lewis 

Continue ReadingeChanges Drop-in Sessions

Libby update will help prevent language confusion!

Libby’s latest update introduces a prompt to users when they borrow, place a hold, or add a “Notify Me” tag to a title in a language different from the one they have set as their app preference.

The goal of this feature is to reduce instances of accidentally borrowing or requesting books in a language they aren’t familiar with. This is especially helpful when a title’s language may not be clear from the cover image (which is often!).

If the user selects “Yes, I Can Read It” from the prompt, Libby will complete the action they were taking. If the user doesn’t want the title in that language, Libby will try to find it in the language the user speaks based on app preferences and past language confirmation prompts.

Not only will this help users to avoid checking out or requesting items they can’t read, it will also hopefully prevent library selectors from having to wade through accidental requests in other languages, and be assured that any that do come through are deliberate!

Click here to learn more about available language options for Libby.

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingLibby update will help prevent language confusion!

Exciting New Resource News!

We are pleased to announce that the newest resources from the POWER Library are now live on the Allegheny County eLibrary. Access all the new resource from the Pennsylvania Electronic Library like Britannica School, Cricket Media Collection, MyHeritage, PA Online Learning, and more!

The eLibrary can be your one stop shop for lots of resources from the POWER Library – job hunting, ebooks (on a wide variety of topics), language learning, and genealogy research just to name a few. If you want to do a deeper dive into what some of these exciting new resources from POWER Library have to offer stop in or call your local library to learn more!

Happy Learning,

-Adrianne, Northland Public Library

Continue ReadingExciting New Resource News!

Good news for Kindle Fire users!

The Libby App is now available for YOU, TOO! Libby gives you free access to thousand of eBooks, Audiobooks, and magazines from your library. Going forward, users with Amazon Fire tablets can download Libby directly from the Amazon Appstore instead of manually sideloading the app.

Note that the classic OverDrive app has now been completely removed from the Amazon Appstore as of June 7. Fire tablet users who already have the OverDrive app installed can continue to use it for now, but we encourage you to make the upgrade! Libby is more user-friendly and has a ton of features not available in the classic app, including requesting titles not yet in the library’s collection through “Notify Me” tags.

And now for the fine print: If you are a Kindle Fire user who previously had the Libby app through a “side load” APK, you can continue to use that version. However if you would like to switch to the official version of the app, you can download it and from your Amazon Appstore and log in with your library card. Note that if you switch from the APK version to the Amazon version of Libby, you may lose your Libby timeline activity, search history, and app customizations. You will not lose your loans, holds, or tags.

Can I use Libby on my Amazon Fire tablet? (libbyapp.com)

— Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingGood news for Kindle Fire users!